Foreign Relations of the United States, 1952–1954, East Asia and the Pacific, Volume XII, Part 2

790B.5/4–2853: Telegram

No. 70
The Ambassador in Burma (Sebald) to the Department of State

secret

Rangoon, April 28, 1953—11 a.m.

2065. Army Attaché message 121, April 6.¹ Defense Minister has indicated to me his desire proceed with arms procurement negotiations. Adlai Stevenson² also told me Defense Minister, Ne Win, and Kyaw Nyein in conversation with him yesterday asked for his intercession with President Eisenhower for sympathetic and favorable consideration Burmese arms request enabling Burma Army eventually build up to four divisions. Stevenson was non-committal, said this was official matter and assumed Embassy proper channel but promised would bear in mind.

Above plus other indications suggest this psychological time set in motion procedure outlined Deptel 1459³ and unless Department perceives objection Embassy will raise matter with Foreign Office April 30.⁴

Sebald

1. Not printed.
2. Stevenson visited Burma Apr. 23–28; material pertaining to his visit is in Walter Johnson and Carol Evans, eds., The Papers of Adlai E. Stevenson, volume V: Visit to Asia, the Middle East, and Europe, March–August 1953 (Boston, Little Brown and Company, 1974), pp. 176–195
3. Dated Mar. 17; the Department outlined procedures for the negotiation of reimbursable military assistance to Burma as follows: In Phase I, Burma should request assistance, and the assurances required by law should be negotiated; in this phase, the United Kingdom should be informed but its concurrence should not be solicited. In Phase II, there should be a complete discussion between the Burmese Government, the British Services Mission, and the U.S. attaché staff to formulate a mutually acceptable list of Burmese arms requirements, culminating in Burmese submission of this agreed list through diplomatic channels. In Phase III, the Department of State would transmit the list with its recommendations to the Department of Defense, which would determine prices and availability. The Embassy was authorized to inform the British Ambassador and the Burmese Government of these procedures and to inform the Burmese that the United States would receive with sympathy a diplomatic request for reimbursable military assistance. (790B.5/3–1053)
4. On May 4, the Embassy reported that the Foreign Office was approached on Apr. 30, and the British Ambassador fully informed on the same day. (Telegram 2094; 790B.5/5–453)