746E. 13/1–2954: Telegram
The Ambassador in Ceylon (Crowe) to the Department of State
233. Prime Minister told me this morning that even though he feels [Page 1598] he made a good deal with Nehru on the Tamil question during his recent trip to New Delhi he continues to oppose Nehru’s desire to form a neutral Asian bloc. He reiterated his former statement to me that his primary reason in calling a conference of Prime Ministers in Ceylon in April is to confer on methods of fighting Communism.1 He added that he would vigorously oppose the introduction into the agenda of the Pakistan arms issue, Kashmir, or other purely sectional matters. He queried me on his trip to the US and said he would greatly appreciate an invitation to visit Washington after the Southeast Asian Prime Ministers conference here.2 He felt that he would then be in a position to give the President a clear picture of the situation in this part of the world. I personally feel that in view of the above it would be wise to invite him.
- Kotelawala on Jan. 5 addressed formal written invitations to the Prime Ministers of Burma, India, Indonesia, and Pakistan to attend the South East Asian Prime Ministers conference in Colombo, April 1954 (despatch 366 from Colombo, Jan. 12, 1954; 790.13/1–1254).↩
- The Prime Minister brought up the subject of a visit to Washington in a conversation with Ambassador Crowe, Dec. 25, 1953. Kotelawala stated that he would very much like to discuss the whole matter of communism in South East Asia with President Eisenhower (telegram 192 from Colombo, Dec. 25, 1953; 746E.00/2–2553). The Department replied on Jan. 29, 1954 that it did not intend to invite him in the near future since it believed that there was no matter to be discussed with him which could not effectively be handled in Colombo by the Ambassador (airgram A-75 to Colombo, Jan. 15, 1954; 746E.13/12–3053).↩