COMMENTS OF HIS EXCELLENCY, G. L. MEHTA, INDIAN AMBASSADOR, AT THE UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP83-00423R000500060001-9
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: C
• Document Page Count: 3
• Document Creation Date: November 9, 2016
• Document Release Date: November 16, 1998
• Sequence Number: 1
• Publication Date: May 13, 1953
• Content Type: REPORT

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SUBJECT: Comments of his Excellency, G. L. M:ehta, Indian Ambassador, at the
University of Michigan
PLACE ACQUIRED:
DATE OF INFO: 13 May 53
DATE ACQUIRED: 25X1 X7
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1. Mr. G. L. Mehta, Indian Ambassador, spoke on 13 May 53 before a group of
foreign students at the University of Michigan, opening the university's
International Week. The meeting was chairman-ed by Mr. Gupta, an Indian
student working on his Ph.D. in chemical engineering at the University of
Michigan.
2. The subject of Mr. Mehta's talk was "World Unity". No unusual statements
were made, but he made a plea for unity based on a common cause for peace.
He said that world unity need not be a distant ideal and that it is worth
striving for. He said further that although this ideal might include being
citizens of the world, it did not imply a world pattern of uniformity. In
support of this statement, he quoted from President Eisenhauer's recent
foreign policy statement before a group of US newspaper editors. Mr. Mehta
laid the failure of the League of Nations to national selfishness and said
that although this was not the time nor the place to evaluate the United
Nations, the UN still represented the only hope of survival and was an
attempt to establish the moral course of the world; that its success would
represent the success or failure of its members. Mr. Mehta reviewed the
emergence of independent states since 1946. He referred to the problem of
India as being one of transforming its rate of progress in.a democratic manner
and pointed to the Indian Five-Year Plan as representative of the determination
of his.country to achieve its goals by democratic methods. In speaking of
Communism, his Excellency emphasized India's problem of a low standard of
living was not related to Marxism. He closed restating his plea for world
unity and quoted, from Tennyson, the famous statement which includes refer-
ence to, "the Federation of the World."
3. Subsequently, in conversation with his Excellency in a small group at a
reception, Mr. Mehta said that India had now become self-sufficient in
cotton textiles and depended no more on supplies from either the UK or Japan
except for a few items which were not yet made locally. He said that the
cotton textile industry in India was constantly improving, both in capacity
and in regard to trofits. He spoke of the handlooms industry as baking a
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substantial contribution to the Indian economy and said further that the
cooperatives which had developed within the handlooms industry were adding
greatly to its effectiveness and stabilizing its future.
1In response to a question regarding the food situation in India, his Excellency
said that it was still necessary for India to import wheat and milo but that
by the end of the Five-Year Plan -- or in another four years -- India would
be producing all it needed of these grains and become self-sufficient in regard
to food.
5. In response to a question regarding trade unionism, Mr. Mehta said that trade
unionism was growing and that its organization was becoming stronger. That those
unions which were Communist-dominated were not dangerous to the country, politically,
at present and that the strongest unions actively supported the present government.
6. Concerning foreign investment, the Ambassador said that his country welcomed such
investment. That there was some opposition to foreign investment which brought
competition to Indian firms, but the general overall policy was to provide a
favorable climate in which foreign investment could operate profitably.
7. His Excellency was in conversation with a local representative of the Ann Arbor
Chamber of Commerce and spoke with him at some length in regard to his own
(Mehta's) experience working in Chambers of Commerce in India. In response to
an inquiry about the government relationship between the Chamber of Commerce
and the government, Mr. Mehta said that the Chambers of Commerce in India are
completely free of any governmental influence but operated similarly to the
Chambers in the U5, watching over legislation effecting commercial activities.
Mr. Mehta seemed very proud of his experience with the Chambers of Commerce
and considered them a beneficial and growing force in the Indian economy.
8. Also present at the reception was a Mr. Lalchand, who was described by Mr. Gupta
as an eminent Indian industrialist particularly interested in shipping.
Mr. Gupta said further that Mr. Lalchand was visiting a son who is attending the
University of Michigan.
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THE UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN
INTERNATIONAL CENTER
and
The International Relations Committee
of the Student Legislature
cordially invite you to attend
a Reception
in the Assembly Hall of the Rackham Building
in honor
of the Ambassador from India
Mr. G. L. Mehta
immediately following His Excellency's address on
Wednesday evening, May 13th, 1953
Approved For Release 1999/09/10 : CIA-RDP83-00423R000500060001-9