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{
    "localId": "269702003",
    "label": "Letter from Secretary of State Dean Acheson to Averell Harriman, with Attachment and Related Notes",
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    "id": "269702003",
    "sourceUrl": "https://catalog.archives.gov/id/269702003",
    "contentType": "document",
    "title": "Letter from Secretary of State Dean Acheson to Averell Harriman, with Attachment and Related Notes",
    "citationUrl": "https://catalog.archives.gov/id/269702003",
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    "productionDates": [
        {
            "logicalDate": "1952-02-01",
            "month": 2,
            "year": 1952
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    "seq": 3,
    "pageIndex": 0,
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    "ocrText": "5.\ns ARCHIVEE SERVICE* REGERDS 'NATIONAL\nAND\nFEB 8.1952\nDear Mr. Harrimans\nWe are faced with a serious problem in connection with aid to South\nAsia, presently in the fiscal year 1953 budget at $90 million. The original\nsubmission to the Bureau of the Budget was for approximately $157 million\nfor technical assistance and economic development aid and it is still our\njudgment that United States assistance for South Asia approximating this\namount is the minimun needed to achieve our political and economic objectives.\nThe economic rescurces of South Asia are underdeveloped and the area\nis industrially and technologically retarded. One approach to economic\nprogress would be to direct efforts lergely to a gradual buildup of human\ncompetences by diverse methods of technical assistance. However, the present\ncrisis precludes a gradualist approach to economic improvement in South Asia.\nWithout prompt and decisive action, our objectives in the region will be\nlost by default. Therefore, our economic aid programs and efforts must be\ngeared to a prompt and substantial enlargement of production--agricultural\nand industrial.\nWe aim to help the South Asian countries to schieve not merely an\nimprovement in their present methods but an enlargement of their physical\nproductive capacity. Therefore, we recommend such things as an increase\nof tillable area through reclamation and irrigation; the establishment of\nnew plants to produce fertilizers, farm implements, and other essential\nproducts; and the improvement of education. Immediate achievement of\nincreased agricultural and industrial preductivity in South Asia is a more\neffective method of fighting the inreads of communism than the later provision\nof military forces, necessarily at a considerably larger cost.\nTime is of the essence. India is in the second year of her five-year\neffert to increase food production by 7.2 million tons. Such a five-year\nfood increase could quiet much of the present political unrest, and eliminate\nthe need for large food grain imports, thus releasing foreigh exchange for\nspeeding up India's own investments in economie develepment.\nThe Indian food production goal cannot be reached without substantial\nforeign assistance. After taking account of all likely assistance to India\nfrom the International Bank and the Colombo Plan, India earnot keep to its\nschedule for increasing food production unless American aid in fiscal 1953\nis increased from the amount now provided to the $115 million originally\nproposed.\nIncomplete reports of election results in India substantiate the real\ndanger with exists. The Communist Party and its allies have to date\nelected 19 representatives to the Central Parliament. In the elections\nfor\ncertain state assemblies the communists have achieved surprising and\nThe Honorable\nimpressive\nW. Averell Harriman,\nDirector for Mutual Security,\nWashington, D. C."
}