186. Memorandum From Secretary of State Muskie to President Carter1
Subject: Daily Report
[Omitted here is material unrelated to India.]
3. Ambassador Goheen on Tarapur Before the SFRC—Ambassador Goheen met informally this afternoon with the Senate Foreign Relations Committee to discuss nuclear fuel exports for the Tarapur reactor. Senator Moynihan supported going ahead with the exports, Senator Javits was skeptical, and Senator Glenn, who presided, urged several times that the Presidential Executive Orders not be sent forward for action in this Congress. (Senator Percy had expressed his reservations earlier at the meeting with Tom Watson.)
The SFRC will hold a formal hearing on the issue on June 18. Senator Glenn gave a hint of the questions to come: (1) “How could we look another nation in the eye” if we allow India to receive the exports under the NNPA? The NNPA is a charade, perhaps, and should be rewritten or discarded; (2) What was the nature of the President’s [Page 486] commitments to Mrs. Gandhi in the letter of early May?2 (3) How could it be argued that the “doves” are in the ascendancy in the Indian Government, given the $1.6 billion arms deal with the Soviets?
I am sending you a note summarizing Ambassador Goheen’s concerns3 so that you can have State’s views of why this decision should proceed.
[Omitted here is material unrelated to India.]
8. Impact of the Indo-Soviet Arms Deal—The $1.6 million Indo-Soviet arms deal so far appears to have had limited impact on regional relations.4 In a nationwide TV address, Pakistani President Zia announced that his Foreign Minister will be soon visiting Delhi, although Zia expressed concern over the arms deal. The Chinese have given low key, straight news coverage to the arms deal without the sharp criticism one might have expected in the past.
At home, questions about the Soviet deal have been raised on the Hill in connection with IDA replenishment and the Tarapur issue, but we think the damage is containable. We have pointed out that the agreement covers a 4–5 year period and has been in the works for more than 18 months. The soft terms illustrate Soviet willingness to commit resources to wooing India.
[Omitted here is material unrelated to India.]
- Source: Carter Library, National Security Affairs, Brzezinski Material, Subject File, Box 23, Evening Reports (State): 6/80. Secret. Carter wrote: “Ed, J” at the top of the memorandum.↩
- See Document 182.↩
- Not found.↩
- In this sentence, an unknown hand wrote “b” above “million,” correcting the word to read “billion.” The Indian Government announced on May 28 that it had signed a pact to buy the arms from the Soviet Union. (“India Signs Contract With Soviet for $1.6 Billion in Modern Arms,” New York Times, May 29, 1980, p. A10)↩