§ Q4. Mr. Denis Howellasked the Prime Minister what further action is proposed in support of India's defence against China; and if he will make a statement.
§ Q5. Mr. W. T. Rogersasked the Prime Minister what fresh consultations he 204 proposes with Commonwealth Governments with a view to agreeing on additional help to the Indian Government in order to assist its resistance to the Chinese invasion.
§ Q6. Mr. Wyattasked the Prime Minister whether he will make a statement on his recent correspondence with the Prime Minister of India concerning help to India to meet Chinese aggression on the frontiers.
§ Q12 Mr. Fellasked the Prime Minister (1) what further measures have been taken by Her Majesty's Government to send food and medical supplies to India;
(2) what consultations he has had with other Commonwealth Prime Ministers for the purpose of co-ordinating Commonwealth assistance to India.
§ Q14. Mr. Donnellyasked the Prime Minister whether he will take the initiative in convening an urgent meeting of Commonwealth Prime Ministers to consider the implications of the Chinese invasion of India and the assistance which the British Commonwealth can give to India.
§ The Prime MinisterI have been in close and frequent consultation with Mr. Nehru and with President Ayub Khan. I have also been in consultation with other Commonwealth Prime Ministers whose countries are offering or may be able to offer urgently needed help to India.
As the House knows, my right hon. Friend the Commonwealth Secretary is now visiting India with my hon. Friend the Parliamentary Under-Secretary and the Chief of the Imperial General Staff. The Commonwealth Secretary is going on to Pakistan and I understand that he hopes to be home at the end of this week. A United States mission, led by Mr. Averell Harriman, is also in India. The discussions with the Indian Government and with the American mission are of course covering all aspects of the situation. When these visits are complete, we shall have a clearer idea of how best we can help India in her present emergency and what further consultation with Commonwealth and other Governments will be desirable. In the meantime, the co-ordination of the provision of equipment immediately 205 required is being carried out through normal day-to-day contacts.
Letters were exchanged this morning in Delhi between my right hon. Friend the Commonwealth Secretary and the Indian Defence Minister stating our preparedness to supply arms to India for the purpose of defending India against Chinese aggression. These letters provide for the supply of arms and military equipment without payment within an agreed financial limit. India has agreed to certain limitations on the use of the arms and undertakes to offer them back to Britain when they are no longer needed.
We have not received any request for food supplies and the only request for medical supplies is for blood plasma units. These have been sent.
§ Mr. HowellIs the Prime Minister aware that the whole House will welcome the arrangements so far made? Can he tell us anything about the suitability of properly trained Service men to deal with the equipment that we are now offering, and, secondly, whether there is any fresh appreciation upon the Indian continent of the importance of regional or collective security agreements at these times? Will he convey to the Governments on the Indian continent the fact that many of us here hope that one by-product of this unfortunate business will be a greater degree of mutual good will between the Governments of India and Pakistan?
§ The Prime MinisterOn the first part of the hon. Member's supplementary question, I should prefer to wait until the Chief of Staff returns, and we can consider that part of the problem. We have met the immediate demands. As for the second part of the hon. Member's supplementary question, again I should like to await the return of my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State. On his third point, he is voicing a sentiment which is universally felt. We all hope that some good may come out of this trouble.
Mr. RodgersDoes not my right hon. Friend agree that the extent of the support given to India by the Commonwealth countries at present is in many ways a test case of Commonwealth unity? In seeking to achieve a Commonwealth view of India's misfortune, will he be prepared to pay particular attention to 206 those Commonwealth countries whose attitude towards India has been ambivalent—and, in particular, countries other than Pakistan?
§ The Prime MinisterI think that we all share the broad sentiments expressed by the hon. Member, but the House will probably agree that these matters need a certain delicacy of handling if we are to get an actual improvement in the general situation.
§ Mr. WyattDoes the Prime Minister agree that this situation shows very clearly that British entry into the Common Market will not in the least weaken Commonwealth connections?
§ The Prime MinisterI should not have thought that that deduction could have been drawn from the recent events.
§ Mr. FellDoes my right hon. Friend agree that this is perhaps an opportune time to consider the more general aspect of Commonwealth defence? In other words, might not it now be a good thing if he were to initiate discussions with Commonwealth countries about the possibility of coming to some sort of agreement under which the whole Commonwealth could resist any aggression by any foreign Power on any part of Commonwealth territory?
§ The Prime MinisterThese are large questions. In view of the situation as it is and in view of the policies that have been followed by India herself, we must now try to take counsel together quietly and calmly, with the object of getting the best results, and not rush too rashly into conclusions which, if we tried to press them simply from our own point of view, might have a result the opposite of what we all hope for.
§ Mr. GaitskellI welcome the Prime Minister's statement about the contract or understanding signed in Delhi about the supply of arms. Can he give the House an assurance that the Indian requests have been met, so far as it is physically possible for us to meet them? Secondly, can he say anything about the actual fighting? Is any fighting taking place? Have the Chinese begun to withdraw?
§ The Prime MinisterI have said that the first requests that we could meet quickly we have met, and I think that 207 the Government of India are very grateful for the help that they have had and the rapidity with which it has been delivered. As for the second part of the right hon. Gentleman's supplementary question, the situation is very obscure. I understand that the Prime Minister of India has now officially received the Chinese proposals and has sought clarification from Peking on a number of points which appear rather obscure. As for the actual military situation, so far as I know no real fighting is going on, but there is a pause to see what the next stage will be.
§ Mr. GaitskellMy first point referred to the contract signed in Delhi. Presumably it is about the supply of arms and equipment in the future. Can he give the House an assurance that the Indian request was largely met, in respect of those items of equipment?
§ The Prime MinisterYes, I think so. But the letters will be published today. They have been signed this morning and they will be published this afternoon. Perhaps I will be able to make a fuller statement when the Commonwealth Secretary returns.
§ Mr. Biggs-DavisonIs not the supreme need a common defence strategy for the Indo-Pakistan sub-Continent? Did not Field-Marshal Ayub Khan propose this some time ago? Having regard to the very strong feelings which are now being expressed in Pakistan, will the Prime Minister and the Secretary of State for Commonwealth Relations do their utmost towards achieving some new Commonwealth approach to the very difficult Kashmir question?
§ The Prime MinisterThis question has been before us for a long time. It is not for want of effort on the part of successive British Ministers that we have not made more progress. We have great sympathy with both sides. What we have tried to do—and I hope that we may be able to do it—is to bring them nearer together.
§ Mr. Emrys HughesIs the Prime Minister aware that some people have great misgivings about the policy of the Government in rushing arms to India when they did not know very much of what the quarrel was about?—[HON. MEMBERS: "Oh."] Is the right hon.
208 Gentleman aware that many people will regard the burdening of the half-starved India peasants with another burden of armaments as a great departure from the policy of Mahatma Gandhi who defeated the British oppressors without violence or arms?
§ The Prime MinisterI recognise, of course, that there are a variety of views in the House, but I should have thought that the House as a whole was in general support of the policy which we have adopted.