§ 14. Mr. Oramasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer what official requests for financial aid were made by Mr. Krishnamachari, Indian Finance Minister, on his recent visit to this country; and what reply was given by Her Majesty's Government.
§ Mr. P. ThorneycroftI would refer the hon. Member to the reply given to the hon. Member for Dundee, East (Mr. G. M. Thomson) by my right hon. Friend the Member for Flint, West (Mr. Birch) on 31st October last.
§ Mr. OramIs the Chancellor aware that the Soviet Union has recently provided India with a credit of £45 million on favourable terms? Is he also aware that yesterday the Foreign Secretary, speaking of the situation in Tunis, said:
…it would be most unfortunate if the Tunisian Government should be forced to rely upon arms coming from the Soviet bloc."—[OFFICIAL REPORT, 18th November, 1957; Vol. 578, c. 34.]Do not similar considerations apply in granting aid to India? While welcoming any aid for India's second five-year plan, would it not be most unfortunate if India were forced to rely too much on economic aid from the Soviet bloc?
§ Mr. ThorneycroftThis Question asks what Mr. Krishnamachari said to me and what I said to him, and those sorts of conversation are confidential.