§ 2.56 p.m.
VISCOUNT ALEXANDER OF HILLS-BOROUGHMy Lords, I beg to ask a question of which I have given Private Notice: Whether Her Majesty's Government will give a report on the present military situation in India upon the North-East and North-West frontiers.
THE FOREIGN SECRETARY (THE EARL OF HOME)My Lords, the Prime Minister of India announced yesterday that Indian troops engaged against the 796 Chinese have suffered further serious reverses in the North-East Frontier Agency of India, and it is now clear that Chinese troops are thrusting deep into Indian territory.
I need hardly say that this is a situation which causes Her Majesty's Government the gravest concern. As the House will be aware, Her Majesty's Government have been anxious to do everything possible to assist India to meet this immediate threat. In response to previous Indian requests certain supplies of small arms and ammunition have already been flown out to India. In view of the worsening military situation Her Majesty's Government have approached the Indians again to see what further supplies are needed to meet this new emergency situation. Arrangements are being made immediately to fly from Singapore and Britain most urgently needed items of equipment.
As the safety of British residents in India may be causing apprehension, perhaps I could take this opportunity of explaining the present situation as we know it. It has been agreed with the Government of India that, in view of the further Chinese advances in the North-East Frontier Agency of India, the wives and children of British residents north of the Brahmaputra River in Assam should be moved at once to safer areas. The Indian Government have undertaken to provide transport. We have just heard from our High Commissioner's office in Calcutta that the first plane-load of evacuated British residents has arrived there in good order. This partial evacuation represents the first phase of a plan which has been arranged between the Indian and British Governments, in consultation with the British community, to meet an emergency of the kind which has arisen.
The British Deputy High Commissioner has gone to Assam, where he is maintaining the closest touch with the Indian authorities. As an additional precautionary measure, R.A.F. transport aircraft are being sent from Singapore to India to be available if needed. Further appropriate measures will be taken as and when required.
VISCOUNT ALEXANDER OF HILLS-BOROUGHMy Lords, I am obliged to the Foreign Secretary for the statement 797 he has just made to the House. I am sure the whole House, like the noble Earl himself, is very concerned about the situation in India. I am glad to know that some further priority supplies are being sent. May I ask whether Her Majesty's Government are making any further study as to how this military situation could be relieved? The position, as I see it, is this. China is not a member of the United Nations Organisation, but is it altogether outside the provisions of the Charter, if a country is grievously invaded and assailed like this, for the United Nations as a whole to take some action?
§ 3.0 p.m.
LORD REAMy Lords, before the noble Earl replies, may I ask another supplementary question Which he may like to take into account at the same time? I am sure, as the noble Viscount has said, that the noble Earl will have general support, but there was a phrase used a little earlier that we would give every support to India. If it would not embarrass the Foreign Secretary, could he define a little more what that means, and possibly tell us whether it includes manpower?
THE EARL OF HOMEMy Lords, the requests that we have received from India at present are limited to weapons—if I may reply to the noble Lord, Lord Rea, first of all—.and that is what we are trying to supply. Now their needs are increasing, and we are discussing with the Indians daily in New Delhi what the Indian requirements are, and we will try to meet them as far as we can. That is true also of the United States Government.
The noble Viscount, Lord Alexander of Hillsborough, was asking about the United Nations and the possibility of using them in one way or another, either to stop this dispute or in some other way. That could be done only if the Government of India so wished, and there has been no approach from the Government of India on these matters so far in this connection. I would only add that I saw the Chinese Chargéd'Affaires yesterday, and he said that this matter must be settled bilaterally between India and China, and that no other kind of mediation or arbitration would be acceptable. But I will keep the House informed, 798 because I have no doubt that these matters will develop in the next day or two.
VISCOUNT ALEXANDER OF HILLS-BOROUGHMy Lords, I am much obliged to the noble Earl. Of course, I am concerned first for the safety of the British residents there, who I believe are more numerous than they were even in 1946 when I was there with the Cabinet Mission. But I am also very concerned for the Indian people as a whole. We have enormous general British interests there, and I should have thought that some approaches could specially have been made to Pakistan to see whether the defence of India as a whole could not be consummated within the subcontinent. I do not know whether it is possible to make any overtures. I do not know what correspondence has actually passed between the two Governments there and Her Majesty's Government, but it seems to me that urgent action needs to be taken in any direction possible to come to the assistance of what, after all, is the largest population of any Dominion in our Commonwealth.
THE EARL OF HOMEMy Lords, Her Majesty's Government are very much in sympathy with what the noble Viscount has said about the need for India and Pakistan to drop their quarrels and join together in defending their countries, because there is no doubt that this Chinese incursion, deep into Indian territory, very much affects the future independence of Pakistan. So I am fully in sympathy with the noble Viscount there. I think all I can do is to keep the House informed, because we are in daily touch with the Indian Government and will know their needs when they have had a chance to assess the latest position.
§ LORD KILLEARNMy Lords, before the noble Earl sits down may I apologise for the fact that I was not in my place when he made his statement and the point may already have been covered? I believe there are a very large number of British residents in that area. I would ask whether measures have been taken for their security and safety and, if necessary, removal. The other point is about British property. I believe there are large properties up there, and I should like to ask whether anything has been 799 done about that. The noble Earl may have covered the point already, in which case I apologise.
THE EARL OF HOMEMy Lords, may I repeat, for my noble friend's information—because this is a proper concern—that we have made arrangements about the safety of the British residents. The wives and children are being taken away, not because they are in immediate danger but because we had made plans in advance, and it is better to have the wives and children out of an area to which fighting may spread. The Indian Government are happy that this should be so.
§ LORD KILLEARNI am obliged to the noble Earl.