Memorandum of Conversation with Secretary of State Dean Acheson, United States Ambassador to Pakistan Avra Warren, and Donald Kennedy

SECRED SECURITY INFORMATION s/s 5817 DEPARTMENT OF STATE 508 Memorandum of Conversation copy 189 DATE: 6/12/52 SUBJECT: Pakistan's request for wheat and Kashmir. PARTICIPANTS: The Secretary Ambassador Avra Warren SOA - Mr. Donald D. Kennedy COPIES TO: NEA Embassy Karachi S/MSA TCA E DRN UNA U. s. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE 16-61120-1 I asked Ambassador Warren what had caused the wheat shortage in Pakistan. He explained that this was not a recurring situation; Pakistan had had some 400,000 tons in excess of its needs at the time of partition which had been sold mainly to Japan and Germany; the country was normally self-sufficient; but that last year there was a shortage and this year there would be another one because of various factors including some shift to cotton and rather serious drought conditions. The Ambassador also explained that although the request was for 300,000 tons of wheat, he believed 150,000 tons at a cost of around $15 million would be adequate since there was reason to believe that this amount would bring out the necessary additional quantities from private hoards. On the matter of financing, Ambassador Warren explained that he understood MSA funds could be found although they were being held back for other programs; there no doubt would be some difficulty because of this. I asked if this was to be a grant, and the Ambassador replied that since the Pakistanis had requested a loan of wheat, it should be provided on a loan basis. Dollars were necessary to make the wheat available since he was informed CCC would not ship without compensation. The next possibility was the Export- Import Bank but it would be very difficult to obtain the necessary funds from this source since they preferred not to enter into such transactions; the only occasion on which they had engaged in a loan for wheat was to Spain under Congressional pressure. Turkey had wheat which could be bought for sterling, but this was not considered E. 11652, Sec. 3(E) and S(D) or (E) DECLASSIFIED O. of State letter, 10.27.76 SECURITY INFORMATION By Dept. NLT- HC NAR$ 11-24-76