391. Letter From Howard Wriggins of the National Security Council Staff to the Ambassador to India (Bowles)1
Dear Chet:
By now you will have received cables indicating that two agricultural economists from the USDA will be on their way to Delhi Monday2 evening. Several Congressmen and Senators will be coming later, early in December, since it has not been possible to alter the schedules of the key Members of Congress at this short notice.
This mission should be seen as an earnest of the President’s deep concern for India’s plight. The past several mornings he has come in with a new angle, so you can be assured he is deeply concerned. From the urgency of your messages, he suspects that we are in for another really tough year in India and that the Congress will have to be asked to come through handsomely again, even though we argued this year that such high requirements were quite exceptional. He therefore feels it absolutely necessary to build a base in Congress which can only be done by (a) a really cool review, sponsored by Washington, of Indian agricultural performance and (b) adequate Congressional participation so that the members can reassure their elected colleagues. The President knows Mrs. Gandhi’s political difficulties, particularly the last distressing weeks, but he has his problems, too. Without such a quick look now, he does not believe he can get Congress cranked up sufficiently. He is even unable to move on the interim 2 million tons until this team of experts reports.
The Department of State, with Freeman’s concurrence, is also asking Doug Heck to plug into the agricultural team’s immediate investigations. It is important that he go along insofar as he can in order to get a rather precise view of the political implications of pressing the agricultural changes Subramaniam has agreed to and we have been urging. And on his return, he will be able to interpret to us all verbally, as our discussions proceed, the broader context and experience of the specialized economic mission.
The attached is a rough outline3 of the kinds of information we think we will need. It may not all come out in the report of Secretary Freeman’s experts, but it suggests the total picture we think we will eventually have to provide and send it to you as the best indication [Page 762] of our thinking here now. I am sending a copy to John Lewis to impress on him the need for a broad view in this exercise.
This is in haste. You can imagine how distressed we are that the Government is having its present difficulties. It is particularly discouraging for those of us who have been plugging India’s bright future for so long. But I personally think it will come through this time of troubles, though it may be a close thing.
All the best—and be of good cheer. Don’t the British say, “Keep your pecker up”?
Sincerely,