893.01/10–1349
Memorandum of Conversation, by the Secretary of State
| Participants: | The President |
| Secretary Acheson | |
| Prime MinisterNehru | |
| Sir Girja Bajpai |
The President received Prime Minister Nehru at 4:30 this afternoon. Sir Girja Bajpai and the Secretary of State were present. The interview lasted three-quarters of an hour.
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China. The conversation then turned to the situation in China. The Prime Minister expressed his view that the basic situation in China was that the agrarian revolution, which had begun many years [Page 128] ago but had been intensified in 1911, had been so mishandled by the Kuomintang that power had fallen by default in the hands of the Communists. He thought that they were not desired in China but were accepted in the absence of any other apparent force interested in dealing with the problem. He thought that Communism was alien to the Chinese mind and that foreign domination would be deeply resented. He believed that the course of events would restore Chinese nationalism as a governing force and would weaken the subservience to Moscow.
In regard to recognition, he thought that India’s proximity to China put India in a somewhat different position from that of other countries and indicated a leaning toward early recognition. The President hoped that this was a matter in regard to which the non-Communist countries could consult and if possible concert their action. The Prime Minister agreed that there should certainly be consultation.