Relations with India

Report Outline
India and the Conflict in Korea
United States Support of Indian Freedom
Development of American Policy Toward India

India and the Conflict in Korea

Political Implications of a Korean Cease Fire

Negotiations for a cease-fire in Korea have focused world attention upon possibilities of a general political settlement in the Far East. In future negotiations for such a settlement, Communist China would be expected to renew its claims to Formosa, a seat in the United Nations, and a voice in the peace treaty with Japan. In countering United States opposition to these claims, the Chinese Reds would have the support of Soviet Russia and could logically count upon assistance from India, which has long been at odds with Washington's China policy.

For political as well as military reasons the United States is expediting arrangements for a peace settlement with Japan which will formally terminate the American occupation. Pending the reestablishment of stable and peaceful relations in the Far East, however, the United States will feel obliged to maintain certain armed forces in and around Japan. As now drafted, the peace treaty takes this into account by allowing Japan to make agreements with “one or more of the Allied Powers” for the “stationing or retention of foreign armed forces in Japanese territory.” Under the treaty, Japan will further agree to United States trusteeship over its former mandates, and over the Ryukyu and Bonin islands. While India's views on the peace treaty have not yet been made public, the Indian government seems certain not to favor retention of American military bases in Japan.

In announcing, July 12, that the signing of the peace treaty is scheduled for early September, United States Ambassador-at-Large John Foster Dulles said: “We have reason to hope that the new independent nations of Asia will want to go along with the kind of a peace treaty which we have evolved and which largely takes their views into account. India and Pakistan, for example, have both taken a lively interest in the evolution of this text.” It remains to be seen, however, whether India will agree to sign a treaty which lacks the approval of Communist China.