Office of the Historian

61. Memorandum of Conversation0

Washington, November 10, 1961, 4:30 p.m.

SUBJECT

  • Conclusions and Recommendations Resulting from my Visit to Pakistan and Afghanistan from Oct. 19 to Nov. 8, 1961, as the Personal Representative of the President of the United States for the Exercise of his Good Offices in Connection with the Stoppage of Transit Traffic to and from Afghanistan through Pakistan

PARTICIPANTS

  • The President
  • NEA—Phillips Talbot
  • Livingston T. Merchant
[Page 136]

I reported orally to the President on the results of my mission to Pakistan and Afghanistan along the lines of my reports earlier in the day to Mr. Talbot and to the Secretary. The views I expressed and the recommendations I made are contained in my memorandum to the Secretary of November 11, 1961.1 The President expressed the keenest interest in the problem and its present status. While the President made no decisions in the matter, I received the impression that he was generally in sympathy with my recommendations. In the matter of the future economic aid program to Afghanistan, he indicated to Mr. Talbot that he would like to have relevant recommendations prepared for his consideration. Mr. Talbot said that these were already under way in consultation with Mr. Gaud of AID. At the conclusion of my report, the President thanked me for undertaking the mission.

  1. Source: Kennedy Library, National Security Files, Trips and Conferences, Merchant Trip to Pakistan and Afghanistan, 10/61-11/61. Confidential. Drafted by Merchant on November 13. According to the President’s Appointment Book, the meeting was held at the White House. (Ibid.)↩
  2. Neither this memorandum nor any record of Merchant’s meetings with Talbot and Rusk has been found.↩