{"id":160870,"date":"2016-04-17T12:12:57","date_gmt":"2016-04-17T06:42:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/?p=160870"},"modified":"2016-04-18T23:01:47","modified_gmt":"2016-04-18T17:31:47","slug":"wikileaks-urgent-request-for-food-pm-sirimas-letter-to-president-nixon-and-nixons-reply","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/wikileaks-urgent-request-for-food-pm-sirimas-letter-to-president-nixon-and-nixons-reply\/","title":{"rendered":"WikiLeaks: Urgent Request For Food – PM Sirima’s Letter To President Nixon And Nixon’s Reply"},"content":{"rendered":"

In a letter dated July 10, 1973, Prime Minister Sirima Bandaranaike<\/span><\/a> has appealed directly to President Richard Nixon for PL 480 Wheat flour shipments to meet desperate food shortage facing Sri Lanka during last three months of 1973.<\/p>\n

\"Prime<\/a>

Prime Minister Sirima Bandaranaike<\/p><\/div>\n

The Colombo Telegraph found the related leaked US diplomatic cables from the WikiLeaks<\/span><\/a> database. We publish below the cables in full;<\/p>\n

LETTER FROM PM BANDARANAIKE TO\u00a0PRESIDENT NIXON<\/strong><\/p>\n

1973 July 16, 06:45 (Monday)<\/p>\n

From:Sri Lanka Colombo
\nTo:Department of State | Secretary of State<\/p>\n

1. BECAUSE OF POSSSJILITY SRI LANKA EMBASSY WASHINGTON HAS\u00a0NOT YET DELIVERED LETTER OF 10 JULY FROM PM BANDARANAIKE TO\u00a0PRESIDENT NIXON, WE ARE TRANSMITTING TEXT (COPY GIVEN AMB\u00a0AT MEETING WITH PM MORNING 16 JULY — SEPTEL).<\/p>\n

2. QUOTE: MY DEAR PRESIDENT, YOU WOULD RECALL MY WRITING\u00a0TO YOU IN JAN THIS YEAR SEEKING THE SUPPORT OF YOUR GOVERN-\u00a0MENT FOR CONVENING THE 9TH MEETING OF THE AID-GROUP FOR SRI\u00a0LANKA AND REQUESTING THE GOVERNMENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF\u00a0AMERICAN TO MAKE A SUBSTANTIAL PLEDGE OF ASSISTANCE. I WISH\u00a0TO EXPRESS OUR APPRECIATION OF THE EFFECTIVE SUPPORT EX-TENDED BY YOUR GOVERNMENT AND FOR THE PLEDGE OF FOOD\u00a0ASSISTANCE MADE BY THE UNITED STATES DELEGATION AT THE AID-GROUP MEETING.<\/p>\n

WE WERE HOPING THAT THE SUPPLY OF WHEAT FLOUR UNDER PUBLIC\u00a0LAW 480 WOULD BE MADE AVAILABLE AT AN EARLY DATE. MY GOVERNMENT WAS ADVISED THAT DUE TO CERTAIN FISCAL AND SUPPLY\u00a0PROBLEMS, OUR REQUEST FOR ASSISTANCE WOULD NOT BE CONSIDERED\u00a0UNTIL THE COMMENCEMENT OF THE US FISCAL YEAR 1974.<\/p>\n

MEANWHILE,THE FOOD SITUATION IN SRI LANKA HAS BEEN AGGRAVATED BY THE SEVERE DROUGHT. COMPARED TO THE TARGET SET FOR\u00a0THE RICE HARVEST IN 1973, THE LATEST ESTIMATES INDICATE\u00a0A SHORTFALL OF OVER 30 PERCENT. THE MAGNITUDE OF THE DROUGHT\u00a0IS ALSO SEEN FROM THE FACT THAT THE POWER SUPPLY IN THIS COUNTRY,\u00a0WHICH IS LARGELY HYDRO-GENERATED, HAD TO BE RESTRICTED FOR THE\u00a0FIRST TIME IN 40 YEARS.<\/p>\n

MY GOVERNMENT HAS INTENSIFIED ITS EFFORTS TO INCREASE RICE\u00a0PRODUCTION IN THE COMING YEAR, AND, AT THE SAME TIME, EFFORTS\u00a0ARE BEING MADE TO GROW SUSTITUTE FOOD GRAINS AND YAMS.\u00a0THE SUCCESS OF THESE EFFORTS HOWEVER, WOULD, TO A LARGE\u00a0EXTENT, DEPEND ON SATISFACTORY WEATHER CONDITIONS. THE DRIVE\u00a0TO GROW SUBSTITUTE FOOD GRAINS WOULD ONLY HAVE A MINIMAL IMPACT\u00a0IN THE COMING YEAR. THUS, IF WE ARE TO KEEP THE POPULATION\u00a0FED AT EVEN SUBSISTENCE LEVELS, THE IMPORT OF MINIMUM QUANTITIES OF RICE AND FLOUR WILL BECOME VERY NECESSARY.<\/p>\n

AS YOU ARE AWARE, THE PRICE OF FOOD GRAINS HAS RISES CONSIDERABLY IN THE WORLD MARKET. EVEN AT ENHANCED PRICES, SUPPLIES\u00a0OF RICE ARE NOT AVAILABLE FOR IMPORT IN ANY SUBSTANTIAL QUANTITY. IT IS IN THIS CONTEXT THAT THE NEED FOR WHEAT FLOUR\u00a0BECOMES AN URGENT NECESSITY. IN RELATION TO OUR MOUNTING DEBT\u00a0SERVICES BURDEN AND OUR CURRENT BALANCE OF PAYMENT DIFFICULTIES IT IS NECESSARY THATTHESE IMPORTS BE MADE ON EASY FINAN-\u00a0CIAL TERMS SUCH AS THOSE OFFERED ON PL 480.<\/p>\n

I AM DISTURBED TO LEARN THAT SRI LANKA IS NOT IN THE LIST\u00a0OF COUNTRIES ELIGIBLE TO RECEIVE PLNMRIP ASSISTANCE DURING\u00a0THE FIRST QUARTER OF THE US FISCAL YEAR. I AM WRITING TO MAKE\u00a0A SPECIAL REQUEST TO YOU TO RESTORE SRI LANKA TO THE LIST\u00a0OF ELIGIBLE COUNTRIES, IF NOT DURING THE FIRST QUARTER, AT
\nLEAST DURING THE SECOND QUARTER OF THE FISCAL YEAR. I WISH\u00a0TO MENTION THAT THE LATTER WOULD BE THE MOST CRITICAL PERIOD<\/p>\n

FOR US IN REGARD TO CEREAL SUPPLIES. AS WE ARE NOT IN A POSITION TO MAKE PURCHASES ON COMMERCIAL TERMS, ANY DELAY OR\u00a0POSTPONEMENT OF THE PL 480 ASSISTANCE PLEDGED AT THE LAST\u00a0MEETING OF THE AID-GROUP WOULD HAVE SERIOUS SOCIAL AND\u00a0POLITICAL CONSEQUENCES.<\/p>\n

I SHALL BE GRATEFUL IF YOU WOULD INSTRUCT YOUR OFFICIALS TO\u00a0GIVE SPECIAL CONSIDERATION TO SRI LANKA’S CASE SO THAT EARLY\u00a0SHIPMENTS OF WHEAT FLOOR UNDER PL 480 COULD BE EFFECTED.<\/p>\n

WITH WARMEST PERSONAL WISHES,<\/p>\n

YOURS SINCERELY,<\/p>\n

(SIRIMA R.D.BANDARANAIKE) PRIME MINISTER.<\/p>\n

HIS EXCELLENCY MR. RICHARD M. NIXON, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED
\nSTATES OF AMERICAN, WASHINGTON, D.C. USA. UNQTE<\/p>\n

VAN HOLLEN<\/p>\n

PRESIDENT’S REPLY TO PRIME MINISTER BANDARANAIKE<\/strong><\/p>\n

1973 August 6, 17:13 (Monday)<\/p>\n

From:Department of State
\nTo:Canada Ottawa | OTTAWA COLOMBO | Sri Lanka Colombo<\/p>\n

1. FOR OTTAWA: PLEASE PASS THE TEXT OF FOLLOWING LETTER\u00a0FROM PRESIDENT TO PRIME MINISTER BANDARANAIKE. PRIME\u00a0MINISTER CURRENTLY ATTENDING COMMONWEALTH CONFERENCE.<\/p>\n

2. QUOTE: AUGUST 3, 1973: DEAR MADAME PRIME MINISTER:\u00a0YOUR LETTER OF JULY 10 WAS A VERY PERSUASIVE DESCRIPTION\u00a0OF SRI LANKA’S URGENT NEED FOR FOOD ASSISTANCE. YOU CAN\u00a0BE SURE THAT WE APPRECIATE THE PROBLEMS YOU FACE IN THIS\u00a0AREA AND WILL TRY TO BE AS RESPONSIVE AS WE CAN. SINCE\u00a0WE ARE NOT IN A POSITION TO PROVIDE A PRECISE ANSWER JUST\u00a0YET, I WANT YOU TO HAVE THIS PROMPT EXPLANATION OF HOW\u00a0YOUR GOVERNMENT’S REQUEST IS BEING HANDLED.<\/p>\n

YOUR LETTER RECALLS THE FEBRUARY AID GROUP MEETING, AT\u00a0WHICH THE U.S. REPRESENTATIVE EXPRESSED OUR HOPE THAT WE\u00a0WOULD BE ABLE TO PROVIDE DOLS 15-18 MILLION WORTH OF WHEAT\u00a0FLOUR TO SRI LANKA UNDER TITLE I OF PUBLIC LAW 480. AS\u00a0YOU KNOW, THE INTERVENING MONTHS HAVE SEEN VERY SERIOUS\u00a0QUESTIONS OF FOOD AVAILABILITY DEVELOP ON A WORLDWIDE\u00a0BASIS, GREATLY COMPLICATING OUR TASKS IN MAKING ALLOCATIONS\u00a0UNDER PL 480.<\/p>\n

THESE MATTERS ARE CURRENTLY UNDER VERY ACTIVE EXAMINATION WITHIN OUR GOVERNMENT. OUR AMBASSADOR WILL KEEP IN\u00a0CLOSE CONTACT WITH YOUR GOVERNMENT AS THIS PROCESS\u00a0CONTINUES. MEANWHILE, YOU MAY BE SURE THAT WE WANT TO\u00a0BE AS HELPFUL AS WE CAN AND THAT THE POINTS RAISED IN\u00a0YOUR LETTER WILL BE TAKEN CAREFULLY INTO ACCOUNT.<\/p>\n

WITH WARM PERSONAL REGARDS, SINCERELY, RICHARD NIXON.
\nEND QUOTE<\/p>\n

3. FOR COLOMBO: ORIGINAL OF LETTER BEING POUCHED
\nFOR TRANSMITTAL TO GSL. ROGERS<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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