Secretary’s Memoranda: Lot 53 D 444
Memorandum of Conversation, by the Secretary of State
Memorandum of Conversation With the President
Item 5. India-Pakistan Tension
I went over this with the President along the lines of the briefing paper1 in my book, stressing particularly that it was not our intention to take the initiative in making proposals. We thought that since this was a Commonwealth matter, the Commonwealth nations should take the initiative and we hoped to be able to support the line upon which they could agree. The President expressed his concern over the trend of affairs in India and he agreed to the position which I had outlined.
The President mentioned a communication which he had received from the Australian Ambassador and asked whether he should reply to it and, if so, how. I agreed that the Department would very promptly make a recommendation to him on this.2
- Reference is presumably to Mr. McGhee’s memorandum to the Secretary of State of July 19.↩
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In a memorandum to President Truman of July 27, not printed, Secretary Acheson wrote that he was conveying thanks on behalf of both himself and the President for the Australian Ambassador’s similar note to each of July 17, and recommended that the President therefore need not write a separate acknowledgment (690D.91/7–1751). In his reply to the Australian Ambassador, also July 27, Secretary Acheson wrote in part as follows:
“I share fully Mr. Menzies’ concern over the trend of affairs in India and Pakistan and hope means can be found without delay to create an atmosphere favorable to negotiation of outstanding disputes. Officers of the Department of State are following developments closely and are looking forward to discussing the problem with your Embassy.
“I am gratified to know that your Government stands ready to take an active part in efforts to prevent further deterioration of relations between India and Pakistan.” (690D.91/7–1751)
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