Office of the Historian

791.5 MSP/1–553: Airgram

The Secretary of State to the Embassy in India

confidential
Washington, January 5, 1953.

Subject:

  • Request under Section 408(e) by the Government of India for C–119G Aircraft.

A–407. This subject was discussed during a recent visit to New Delhi by Mr. Theodore Tannenwald who has requested that the following information be conveyed to the Embassy.

The Government of India requested, on October 1, 1952, a quantity of twenty-six C–119G Fairchild aircraft including supporting equipment and spare parts.1

This request was approved by the Departments of State and Defense and on November 20, 1952 the Department of the Air Force wrote a letter offer to the Embassy of India2 containing estimated delivery [Page 1682] dates for the above mentioned equipment in 1954 and 1955 at an approximate total cost of $24,247,964 based on a January 1, 1953 acceptance.

The Indian Air Attaché has indicated to the Department of the Air Force that they plan to accept the offer and he has informally discussed financial arrangements with the Comptroller, Office of the Director for Mutual Security. As of this date, no formal acceptance has been received from the Indian Embassy.

Acheson
  1. See the memorandum by Martin, Oct. 20, p. 1668.↩
  2. A copy of this letter has not been found in the Department of State flies.↩