307. Telegram From the Embassy in India to the Department of State0
In order that Department may have exact final text of signed note which was delivered to MEA July 9, it is quoted below in full:
Begin Text. New Delhi, July 9, 1963. Number 15
Excellency:
I have the honor to refer to the agreement between our two Governments effected by an exchange of notes signed at Washington November 14, 1962,3 regarding assistance to the Government of India for the purpose of defense against the outright Chinese aggression directed from Peiping against India and the request by the Government of India for [Page 616] assistance under that agreement to strengthen India’s defenses against possible air attack on the Delhi and Calcutta areas. I further have the honor to propose the following understandings with respect to this request:
- 1.
- The United States Government will send to India two mobile radar installations, with related communications equipment. Title to these installations will be retained by the United States and they would be subject to possible removal in the event of urgent need elsewhere. These installations will be located in the Delhi and Calcutta areas and will be manned by United States military personnel. Properly trained Indian technicians would, as mutually agreed, progressively undertake responsibilities in the operation and maintenance of these installations.
- 2.
- The United States Government is prepared, subject to the availability of funds, to initiate at an early time the training of Indian technicians in the operation and maintenance of mobile and fixed radar installations and related communications equipment. The Government of India will undertake to make available Indian personnel for this training. Such training, if funds are available, could be continued until the end of the United States fiscal year 1964 at which time the United States Government would give sympathetic consideration to a request by the Government of India for additional training assistance.
- 3.
- The United States Government is prepared, subject to the availability of funds, to deliver to the Government of India within a period of 12 to 18 months from the entry into force of the present agreement the equipment for 6 permanent radar installations, again with related communications equipment, for air defense in the western and eastern sectors of India centered on Delhi and Calcutta. These installations will be designed to replace the mobile installations described in Paragraph One above.
- 4.
- The United States Government will join the Indian Air Force in such intermittent peacetime training exercises as may be mutually agreed. Such exercises shall be designed to improve the effectiveness of India’s air defenses against bombing attacks on the Delhi and Calcutta areas. In connection with such mutually agreed exercises, the United States would be prepared to send fighter aircraft manned by United States military personnel to India on a temporary basis. It is understood that during periods of joint training exercises, over-all responsibility for the air defense of India will continue to remain vested in the appropriate India commander. It is the understanding of the Government of the United States that the United Kingdom has indicated its willingness to participate in such joint training exercises.
- 5.
- The United States Government will consult with the Government of India, in the event of a Chinese Communist attack on India, [Page 617] regarding possible United States assistance in strengthening India’s air defenses.
- 6.
- Any assistance furnished by the United States Government under the present agreement shall be subject to the agreement effected by an exchange of notes signed at Washington on November 14, 1962. The financial terms agreed or to be agreed between the United States Government and the Government of India for military assistance furnished pursuant to the above mentioned agreement of November 14, 1962, shall apply to assistance furnished under Paragraphs 2 and 3 of the present agreement. The Government of India will accord personnel sent by the Government of the United States to India pursuant to the terms of this understanding the same treatment accorded members of the United States military supply mission in India. The Government of India will provide the necessary local construction, including accommodations for United States military personnel, for these projects.
If the foregoing understandings are acceptable to your Government, this note and Your Excellency’s reply concurring therein shall constitute an agreement between our two Governments which shall enter into force on the date of your reply.
/S/ John Kenneth Galbraith.
His Excellency.
Jawaharlal Nehru, Prime Minister of India.
End Text.
- Source: Department of State, Central Files, DEF 19 INDIA. Secret; Limit Distribution. Repeated to London, Canberra, and Karachi.↩
- In telegram 135 from New Delhi, July 9, Galbraith reported that he had presented the air defense proposals to M.J. Desai that morning. The proposals were put forward in the diplomatic note quoted in telegram 143. The note was accompanied by a letter from Galbraith to Nehru, dated July 9, the text of which was agreed with the British Government in advance. (Ibid.) The text of the July 9 letter was transmitted to Washington as an attachment to airgram A-106 from New Delhi, July 20. The letter stated that the United States and the United Kingdom were prepared to assist in strengthening India’s defenses against possible Chinese air attacks. To that end, the two governments were prepared to authorize occasional visits by fighter squadrons of their respective air forces, to join in training exercises with the Indian Air Force. (Ibid., DEF 1-4 INDIA)↩
- Telegram 136 from New Delhi, July 9, transmitted the text of a talking paper containing the points made orally by Galbraith in presenting the two documents to Desai that constituted the air defense proposals. (Ibid., DEF 19 INDIA)↩
- See Document 197.↩