42. Memorandum From the Secretary of State to the President1
SUBJECT
- Aid to Burma
The enclosed letter to you from U Nu, ex-Prime Minister2 of Burma, is an additional and frank Burmese appeal for U.S. assistance. It requests reinstitution of grant aid. U Nu points out, however, that Burma’s policy of neutrality dictates that it cannot give Battle Act assurances and must make at least token payment in rice for such assistance.
Despite U Nu’s resignation as Prime Minister, it is expected that he will continue to head the political coalition which controls the government and that there will be no significant change in Burmese policy.
This letter is being urgently studied in the light of programs of economic assistance for Burma which have already been worked out and which we believe will be acceptable to the Burmese.
I recommend that you approve the enclosed friendly reply to U Nu, which states that I will communicate with the Burmese government after we have thoroughly examined U Nu’s proposals. Because of internal political considerations, we do not anticipate that this exchange with U Nu will be released by the Burmese.
[Page 67]If you approve, your reply will be cabled to our Embassy at Rangoon for delivery to U Nu.3
- Source: Eisenhower Library, Whitman File, International Series. Secret. Filed with U Nu’s May 22 letter to Eisenhower, under cover of Howe’s June 19 memorandum to Whitman, cited in footnote 2, Document 40. The date is from a copy in Department of State, Central File 790B.5–MSP/6–756.↩
- U Nu’s resignation as Prime Minister was announced on June 5; the new Prime Minister was U Ba Swe.↩
- The text of the letter from Eisenhower to U Nu, dated June 15, was transmitted in telegram 1270 to Rangoon, June 18. (Department of State, Central Files, 790B.5–MSP/6–1856)↩