287. Memorandum of a Conversation, New York, September 22, 1960, 3:30 p.m.1
SUBJECT
- Talk with Nepalese Prime Minister Koirala
PARTICIPANTS
- The President
- The Secretary of State
- Lt. Col. John Eisenhower
- Mr. G. Lewis Jones (NEA)
- H.E. B.P. Koirala, Prime Minister of Nepal
- H.E. Rishikesh Shaha, Nepalese Ambassador in Washington
The Nepalese Party arrived on time and when Koirala was seated on the sofa beside the President, the latter started the conversation by inquiring regarding the East-West Road. He asked how long it was (550 miles) and then opined that he thought the Indians should take an interest in building this road. The Prime Minister replied that the Indians’ interest was largely in North-South roads. The new road would run along the foothills of the Himalaya (the Terai) and would cross many rivers. He implied Indian interest was likely to be small, but he did not ask specifically for U.S. aid in connection with the road.
The Secretary introduced the subject of Mount Everest and asked whether it was a fact that the Chinese communists had laid claim to it. The Prime Minister outlined briefly his recent negotiations with the Chinese communists regarding Nepal’s northern border and said that the Chinese were being very flexible in their dealings with Nepal.
A silence having fallen (these silences are a mannerism of the Prime Minister), the President asked him to convey his personal greetings to the King and Queen whose visit to this country, the President said, he had greatly enjoyed. The Prime Minister said the King and Queen had returned “enormously impressed” by what they had seen in the U.S. and by the warmth of the reception given them “even in small places.”
The President expressed the hope that the Prime Minister would be able to do some traveling in the U.S. before returning; he said that in particular the Prime Minister should see the large farms in the West and the high degree of mechanization with which they are operated. The President said, by way of example, that 175 years ago 92% of our population was engaged in raising food and fiber; today only 8% are so engaged. This means that today one farmer, using machinery, fertilizer, etc., produces food and fiber for 20 others.
The President then recalled his interesting stay in Delhi and the exhibits at the Delhi Agricultural Fair.
Regarding the President’s suggestion that he travel in the U.S., the Prime Minister said that the farthest west he had been was yesterday when he visited Washington, D.C. The President opined that there are only two places which are “not America”—New York and Washington, D.C. The Prime Minister explained that he would have to be back in Kathmandu by October 6 when the King and Queen would depart for a state visit to the U.K.
[Page 608]As one of the difficulties he was confronting, the Prime Minister mentioned the fact that to get troops to the scene of the border incident which occurred a few weeks ago along the Nepalese-Chinese frontier where a Nepalese was killed, required three weeks’ foot march by Nepalese forces. The President seemed surprised that aircraft could not be used—in particular, helicopters, but the Prime Minister explained that there are very few landing fields in Nepal and that the largest aircraft which can be safely used there at this time are DC–3’s.
The Prime Minister said that Nepal was an interesting country and he hoped it would be possible for the President to visit Nepal someday. The President replied that so far as hunting was concerned, he did not like to kill anything larger than birds. The Nepalese Ambassador intervened at this point to say: “But we have birds, too!” The Prime Minister implied that there was more than hunting to be done in Nepal.
The President introduced the subject of the “very remarkable” Indus River settlement.2 He hoped something might be done also about Kashmir. The Prime Minister hoped so too, but said that even if the two leaders were agreed on this difficult subject, there were limits to what they could achieve since public opinion is deeply exercised on both sides of the cease-fire line.
The President acknowledged the Prime Minister’s point with regard to the force of public opinion. He said that in the Philippines there had been agitation for independence; the U.S. had replied: “Take your independence”; the leaders, after thinking it over, realized that they were not ready for independence, but public opinion had been so aroused at earlier stages that they could not stop the demand. The President spoke highly of the standard of living which existed in the Philippines at the present time.
Lt. Col. Eisenhower inquired whether the Prime Minister had seen Don K. Price of the Harvard School of Business Administration who had recently been sent to Kathmandu at the request of the King of Nepal to advise the latter on governmental organization. The Prime Minister said he had seen Price a number of times—most recently at the luncheon party in Washington the previous day. The President said that Price at one time was a member of his “team”; that Price had returned very enthusiastic about his stay in Nepal, and had highly praised the good work carried out by the Prime Minister.
The Prime Minister said that he and his government were working hard, but they were confronted by many problems resulting from Nepalese underdevelopment. The President picked up this point and said the United States, France, the U.K., and other nations have taken [Page 609] centuries to develop the high standard of living which they enjoy today. Development takes time. It was important that young, underdeveloped countries avoid impatience.
The Prime Minister did not demur, but he said that internal and external communist pressure “keeps us on the run.” He said that the Chinese communists may not be pressing Nepal at this time, but they can start applying pressure at any time.
The President commented: “You are under their guns.” He then inquired whether the Communist leaders in Nepal are educated. The Prime Minister said they were educated and had some influence.
The President commented that it was hard for him to understand how anyone would ever want to be a communist; how anyone would be willing to become a “servant” and to live as a slave taking orders. The Prime Minister made the point that communist influence was strongest where the territory involved was contiguous to the communist bloc. [6½ lines of source text not declassified]
The interview broke up with the appearance of Mr. Hagerty. The President and the Prime Minister moved to an adjoining room where they posed for photographers. Ambassador Shaha approved a simple press statement regarding the interview, which was later given to the press by Mr. Hagerty.
- Source: Eisenhower Library, Staff Secretary Records, International Series. Confidential; Limit Distribution. Drafted by Jones on September 26. The source text indicates that the conversation took place at the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel. President Eisenhower and Prime Minister Koirala were in New York for the 15th Session of the U.N. General Assembly, which opened on September 19. Eisenhower was briefed for this meeting in a memorandum of September 21 from Acting Secretary Dillon. (Department of State, Central Files, 033.90C11/9–2760) A slightly different memorandum of this conversation, drafted by John S. D. Eisenhower, is in the Eisenhower Library, Staff Secretary Records, International Series.↩
- On September 19, India and Pakistan concluded a treaty governing the use of the Indus Waters; see Document 97.↩