711.56346E/4–1654
The Assistant Secretary of Defense for International Security Affairs (Hensel) to the Deputy Under Secretary of State (Murphy)1
Dear Mr. Secretary: Reference is made to your letter of 24 Feb. 19542 which forwarded a report from the United States Ambassador in Ceylon concerning possible negotiations with that country and requested additional information regarding the United States military requirements in Ceylon.
This will confirm the information which has been informally transmitted to a representative of your Department that the United States Air Force requirement for a heavy bomber staging base in Ceylon has been deleted.3 That requirement has been reprogrammed to another location because of the delay in securing base rights in Ceylon.
With reference to the other United States requirements in Ceylon, the United States Air Force communication requirement is currently being reviewed in the light of the doubtful prospects for obtaining the military rights in Ceylon. It is anticipated that this requirement will also be deleted from Ceylon and programmed for an alternate site in the Indian Ocean area. This matter will be referred to the Joint Chiefs of Staff for consideration. It is very probable that the Navy communication requirement in Ceylon may likewise be modified as a result of the above action. The Army requirement remains unchanged unless there is a possibility of obtaining a suitable alternate site. Your Department will be advised when this review has [Page 1606] been completed and will be furnished with a revised statement of the United States requirements in Ceylon.
With reference to the other questions posed by the United States Ambassador to Ceylon, the following information is furnished:
- a.
- This Department is not prepared to pay for military rights in Ceylon from Defense appropriations. While Defense Department funds have been used for similar purposes in the past under exceptional circumstances, we do not consider it generally appropriate for a military department to provide funds to a foreign government in return for military base rights.
- b.
- The British Chiefs of Staff have been advised of the United States military interest in Ceylon as indicated in the letter of 14 April 1953 to your Department. However, with the possible exception of the United States Navy communication requirement, we do not believe that it will be possible to fill our military requirements in Ceylon by an arrangement with the British in a manner which would make it possible to justify the expenditure of public works funds and safeguard the United States interests in such matters as jurisdiction of forces, residual values, customs and tax exemptions, etc.
In view of the continued requirement to accommodate the United States communications requirements in the Indian Ocean area, it is requested that this Department be advised when, and if, the negotiating prospects with Ceylon improve in the future. In such an eventuality the military services would desire to reassess the military planning for that area.
Sincerely yours,
Vice Admiral, USN
Director, Office of
Foreign Military Affairs
- This letter was relayed to Colombo in Department instruction CA–6320, May 4, 1954 (711.56346E/5–454).↩
- Ante, p. 1603.↩
- Colonel Boyd of the Air Force had met with Williams and Yenchius of the Office of South Asian Affairs to state that the bomber staging objective had been dropped for Ceylon as impractical (memorandum of conversation, Mar. 15, 1954; 711.56346E/3–1554).↩