§ Mr. Longdenasked the Secretary of State for War if he is aware that the newly elected General Assembly of India on 21st January decided, without a division, to adjourn in protest against the Indian Government's refusal, long after the end of the Japanese war, to dissociate India from British operations in Indonesia; and will he cause the Indian troops, at least, to be withdrawn.
§ Mr. A. HendersonI have been asked to reply. I am aware that a motion for the Adjournment was carried in the Indian Central Legislative Assembly on the 21st January after a Debate on the employment of Indian troops in Indonesia, but I have not yet received from the Government of India a copy of the Official Report of the Debate. His78W Majesty's Government fully realise the distasteful nature of the duties which developments in the Netherlands East Indies have imposed upon troops of S.E.A.C. in the fulfilment of the tasks in Indonesia laid upon them by the Anglo-American Combined Chiefs of Staff, and it is the intention of His Majesty's Government to withdraw both the British and Indian troops as soon as their tasks have been fulfilled. It is not, however, possible to fix a date for the termination of these tasks nor to substitute other troops for the Indian forces now involved.