790B.00/3–1952: Telegram
No. 18
The Secretary of
State to the Embassy in
India1
1992. Urtels 3382 Mar 18 and 3406 Mar 19. Deptel 1142 Feb 12 rptd Delhi 1639 in reply Saigon’s 1541 Feb 4 outlined Dept attitude toward problem Chi irregular troops eastern Burm.
Dept agrees assistance to guerrillas in independent nations SEA wld have most harmful effect in our relations with those countries and with India. Dept firmly opposes any material assistance to them and has made rptd representations Taipei and Bangkok this subj.
Having in mind contents Deptel 1639 Dept suggests that in discussing subj with Bajpai you emphasize fol points: [Page 24]
- 1.
- You have been reassured fol report ur Mar 18 talk with Bajpai that rumors official Amer assistance to Chi troops entirely without foundation in fact.
- 2.
- There are numerous Amers in Thai connected with MSA and other official activities. None however is connected in any way with alleged traffic. We have done everything possible to influence Chi and Thai Govts to obtain their full coop in preventing supplies reaching troops and most reliable info available this Govt indicates no appreciable quantities arms and ammo now reaching them.
- 3.
- Dept continues study matter and will take all feasible steps toward a final solution of this serious problem.2
- Repeated to Saigon, Hong Kong, Rangoon, Taipei, London, Paris, and Bangkok.↩
- Bowles replied on Apr. 9 that he had already done everything possible to convince the Indian Government that the United States was not supporting the Chinese troops in Burma. Indian officials were not convinced, however, that the United States had done everything in its power to stop the Chinese Nationalist Government from supporting the troops. It was widely believed in India that some of “our people” were operating independently of stated U.S. policy. Bowles concluded with the comment: “Believe potential damage to our integrity shld be fully understood by Dept.” (Telegram 3687; 790B.00/4–952)↩