Sydney Morning Herald (NSW : 1842 - 1954), Thursday 5 August 1954, page 1


Nehru Has Alternative

To SEATO j

>

From Our Staff Correspondent and A.A.P.

LONDON, August 4. - The Indian Prime Minister, Mr. Nehru, has told the Colombo Powers that he has evolved an alternative plan to the proposed SouthEast Asia Treaty Organisation.

Announcing this yesterday, the Prime Minister of Ceylon, Sir John Kotelawala, said that he had asked for a conference of the Colombo Powers this month which could discuss Mr. Nehru's proposal.

Sir John said that the conference would also decide on a common reply to Britain's request for their views on

SEATO.

"WE WANT FRIENDS"

The Colombo Powers are India, Pakistan, Indonesia, Burma and Ceylon.

Sir John sent messages yes-

terday to the Prime Ministers

of each of the Powers, sug-

gesting a conference in Ran-goon or Colombo.

He told the Ceylon House of Representatives last night that he did not know what alternative to SEATO Mr. Nehru proposed.

He said that Indonesia had informed Ceylon that, like India, it rejected the SEATO proposal. Pakistan was will-ing to discuss the question, and Burma had not yet given its views.

Sir John said he would not like to commit Ceylon on the subject until after the pro-posed Colombo conference and until he knew Mr. Nehru's alternative.

"My view is that if we have to believe the Russians and the Chinese, they have to prove their bona fides." he said. . ",

"We want friends. We must have India, Pakistan, Indo-nesia and Burma as our friends because we now form a new class. Therefore we will discuss the matter ".nd come to a decision unani-mously, as we have done in the past."

DENIAL

A spokesman for the British Foreign Office yesterday de-nied reports that India has al-ready replied to Britain and has refused to enter SEATO.

The spokesman said that no complete reply has been re-ceived from any of the five Powers, and that Britain has not invited any of them to join SEATO, but only asked

for their views.

Reuters says that Britain and the United States have not completed arrangements for a conference to establish SEATO pending replies from the Colombo Powers, but that the conference is likely to take place in September.

In Washington yesterday, the U.S. Secretary of State, Mr. John Foster Dulles, said he hoped that a decision would be reached within a week or 10 days on the calling of the

conference.

A London dispatch to the New York "Herald-Tribune"

says that Britain is displeased by U.S. suggestions of a separate security agreement to include Nationalist China.

The dispatch says that if America's intentions prove unsatisfactory, Britain may say that her guarantees to the United States under SGATO will not apply in situations arising from U.S. commit-

ments to Nationalist China.

Sir John Kotelawala last

night sent to the British Foreign Secretary, Mr. An-thony Eden, a joint declara-tion by the Colombo Powers supporting the Indo - China

settlement.

(U.S. And Formosa: P. 3.)