33. Letter From Secretary of State Rusk to the Ambassador to India (Galbraith)0
Dear Ken: I was much interested in your effort, reported in Embtels 3123 and 8,1 to impress upon our Indian friends the stake which neutrals have in support of the genuine independence of other neutrals. I sought to make the same point to Ambassador Chagla by indicating that the United States presence in Southeast Asia had not been sought by us and that we would be happy to see the day when the countries there would be able to maintain their own independence.
As indicated in Deptel 68,2 while we are not reaching out for additional allies, we do and must take our existing commitments seriously. Our problem is to sustain the solidarity and morale of our alliances while working toward a growing recognition by the neutrals of their basic interest in a secure independence for those not aligned. In this connection, I think Khrushchev’s January 6 speech3 (the full text of which has been sent to all our Embassies) can effectively be cited as evidence that as far as Communist strategy is concerned the world is divided in two, i.e. the Communist bloc versus all the rest of the countries whether they be aligned or non-aligned.
I agree with you that there is advantage in your talks with Indians in staying out of debates over our existing allies and alliances. At the same time it should always be clear to them that we are not down-grading our [Page 79] commitments. Indeed we seek to strengthen them in the prospect of such trials as Laos and Berlin.
With warm personal regards,
Sincerely,
- Source: Kennedy Library, National Security Files, Countries Series, India, General, 6/16/61-7/31/61. Secret.↩
- Dated June 28 and July 2. (Department of State, Central Files, 751J.00/6-2861 and 751K.5-MSP/7-261, respectively)↩
- Dated July 6. (Ibid., 611.90/7-661)↩
- Extracts of Khrushchev’s speech are printed in American Foreign Policy: Current Documents, 1961, pp. 555-558.↩
- Printed from a copy that bears this typed signature.↩