49. Circular Telegram From the Department of State to Certain Diplomatic Missions1
639. Ref New Delhi 1605,2 1607.3 This is a joint State–FOA cable. US welcomes GOI initiative for Simla meeting and suggests addressees encourage attendance, as US particularly wishes to see development economic cooperation between Japan and India and other countries of free Asia.
US favors setting up a small permanent secretariat for the Colombo Plan Consultative Committee to provide continuity, to prepare for annual meetings of the ministers, and to have attached to it appropriate technical consultants. We see no objection to exploration by the Colombo Consultative Group of some form of liaison between Colombo and the OEEC.
[Page 93]US, however, does intend to continue US aid on a bilateral basis and would not favor multilateral recommendations or negotiations regarding US aid to countries of Asia. This bilateral handling of aid was made clear to Government of India in Stassen group discussions in Delhi and believe Government of India understands this and agrees with it. It would, therefore, be most desirable that Items 1 and 2 of proposed agenda should not be included4 and if Items 3 and 45 were recognized to be primarily problems for Asian countries to arrange between themselves within their own resources and not to involve US aid.6
It is also important for all participants in Simla Conference to realize that US aid program for Fiscal Year 1956 cannot be implemented unless and until US Congress passes the necessary authorizing and appropriating legislation.
Assume no resolutions or communiqué will be adopted Simla meeting which would have implications critical of US or would otherwise adversely affect US Congressional reaction.7
In conclusion, significant economic cooperation of Japan and India with other Asian and Western countries may develop from the beginnings of the Simla meeting and from the Colombo expansion at Ottawa in 1954. This is US objective and these preliminary stages must be handled with care toward this end.
- Source: Department of State, Central Files, 890.00/5–355. Confidential. Drafted by Stassen and revised in the Bureau of Economic Affairs and by Hoover; cleared by Murphy, Hoover, and Stassen; and approved by Nolting. Also sent priority to New Delhi and to Bangkok, Karachi, Rangoon, Tokyo, Colombo, Manila, Saigon, Djakarta, Phnom Penh, and Vientiane. Some of the revisions are indicated in footnotes below.↩
- In telegram 1605, dated April 23, the Embassy forwarded to the Department the verbatim text of the proposed Indian agenda, dated April 21, for the Simla Conference. (Ibid., 890.00/4–2355)↩
- See footnote 4, Document 45.↩
- Agenda item 1, according to telegram 1605, was discussion of the pattern of utilization of U.S. aid in terms of possible greater regional emphasis. Item 2 called for discussion of practical problems which had arisen in the utilization of U.S. aid.↩
- Agenda item 3 was discussion of the utilization of the $200 million which had been mentioned for allocation for development projects which would have the effect of promoting intraregional trade. This is an apparent reference to the proposed President’s Fund for Asian Economic Development. In agenda item 4, talks were proposed on setting up machinery to provide credit to enable Asian countries to tide over short-term balance of payment difficulties.↩
- In Stassen’s original draft, this sentence did not end with “aid” but continued as follows: “unless it be comparatively small portion of the $200 million President’s Asian fund.”↩
- In Stassen’s draft, the following paragraph appeared at this point: “US considers it would be desirable at rather early date for Simla Conference to be expanded to include all other Colombo members, UK, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and US, and become a preparatory session for the Colombo Consultative Ministers Group now scheduled to meet in Singapore in late 1955. Government would undoubtedly wish to consult UK prior to such broadening of the Simla session.”↩