General Guidance

The Canadian Delegation to the Colombo Plan Conference should be guided by two general considerations:

1. that the Colombo Plan is a co-operative effort to improve the well-being of South and Southeast Asia; the main effort is being put forward by the countries of that region themselves. In general the Delegation should try to ensure that initiatives have broad backing from the major Asian delegations. It is not appropriate for the countries outside the region who contribute to this co-operative economic effort to describe themselves as donor countries and to speak of others as recipients.

2. It is undesirable to make any reference to the fact that one of the reasons for Canada participating in the Colombo Plan is our wish to help counter the threat of Communist subversion. Two of the most important countries of the Plan are avowedly neutral in this struggle India and Indonesia and it has, therefore, become an almost unwritten rule at the meeting that no reference be made to this issue.

Item 1 of the Agenda Speeches by Leaders of the Delegation

As will be apparent from the comments against Item 5 below, the nature of the opening speech to be made by the Leader of the Canadian Delegation is not yet clear. It may or may not be the occasion for the major speech by the Leader of the Delegation; it may be merely an occasion to make a general statement expressing our thanks to the host government. However, the major speech should cover

1. What Canada is accomplishing under the Colombo Plan and how much it will contribute next year. It is hoped that a memorandum on this latter point will be put before Ministers⁸³ and a decision from Cabinet obtained in time to advise the Delegation before the Ministerial Meeting beginning October 21. Canada's willingness to work with and along side our Asian friends should be emphasized. Any Canadian statement should, of course, be moderate in tone and underline humanitarian rather than political considerations for our participation in the Colombo Plan. It might also indicate the benefit of a broader international understanding which we derive from our participation.

Item 2 of the Agenda Presentation of the Draft of the Annual Report

The Canadian Delegation should seek to ensure that the report is an objective and analytical in tone as possible under the circumstances. (It has been customary for the major Canadian statement to be made when the Contributions Chapter is being considered under this item).

Item 3 of the Agenda Technical Assistance

Canada may be elected a member of the Subcommittee on Technical Assistance of the Officials Meeting. It would be expected that Mr.Mills, our Colombo Plan Attaché in Karachi, would be the Canadian representative. There are a number of points of detail on which it may be appropriate for our representative to comment, as set out in the detailed commentary on this item prepared by the Technical Co-operation Service. The Delegation should make it clear that in the Canadian view the technical assistance scheme is working well and that we continue to find it an effective and useful means of giving aid and of making the best use of the resources that are available in the Colombo Plan area.

Item 4 of the Agenda Colombo Plan Information Unit

Mr. Mills or Mr.Nutting might be the Canadian representative on the Subcommittee on Information at the Officials Meeting. (Mr.Mills attended the last policy meeting of the Council for Technical Co-operation in Colombo which considered information matters.) In the event that Canada is elected to this Committee it would be appropriate for the Canadian representative to make any points of detail suggested in the commentary on this item prepared by the Information Division of the Department of External Affairs. The Canadian Delegation should be aware that some of Canada's information objectives are served by the Information Unit and we should approve any modest expansion of its activities; however, the Delegation should resist any undue expansion of the work of the Unit, particularly if such expansion would call for an increased contribution from Canada. Though no doubt additional information activity is required about the Colombo Plan in South and Southeast Asia, this task can best be served by national governments rather than by the Colombo Plan Information Unit which is better adapted to give assistance to national information organizations.

Item 5 of the Agenda Arrangements Relating to the Next Meeting

The Leader of the Canadian Delegation at last year's meeting expressed the view that the Colombo Plan Conference should be held less frequently and should deal with more matters of substance. This view is widely shared, and, therefore, the Canadian Delegation should give support to any initiative by Asian countries to hold these meetings less frequently. The Delegation should not, however, take any initiative in this matter. As to the detailed conduct of meetings, the Delegation should give support, along the lines indicated in the commentary articles, to proposals to improve the organization of the Meeting of Ministers and to streamline the work of the various committees and working groups. The Delegation should give support to any initiative by the Asian Governments in this direction if it is in line with the detailed suggestions in the commentary, but should not take the lead in pressing for changes at this stage.

Item 6 of the Agenda Other Business

There may be a number of topics raised in the meeting or brought up informally between delegations. A list of such possible topics is set out below with brief indications of what attitude the Delegation should adopt.

1. Asian Nuclear Centre The Delegation should be guided by paragraphs 2, 3, and 4 of telegram E-926 of June 25 to Washington which contained instructions to the Canadian Delegation to the Working Group which considered the United States proposals. Canadian attitudes to this proposal have not altered significantly since that time.

2. Asian Development Fund The preliminary views of Departments on the Japanese proposal (as contained in the attached papers) is that it is most unlikely that Canada would ever be prepared to participate in such a fund. The Japanese proposal conflicts with the basic Canadian policy of handling Colombo Plan capital aid bilaterally.

3. Possible Membership of Afghanistan The Delegation should be prepared to agree to the membership of Afghanistan if it is sponsored by Pakistan or if Pakistan approves. The Delegation may find it necessary to make clear that for the present, Canada will find it possible to offer only limited technical assistance to Afghanistan.

4. Possible Membership of Korea The Delegation should be guided by the attitudes of the major Asian countries in the Plan. In any event, the possibility of Canada offering assistance would be limited to technical assistance.

5. Membership of Federation of Malaya The Canadian Delegation should welcome the Federation of Malaya as a full member of the Plan.

6. Mekong River Project The Delegation should hold informal discussions with the other Delegations concerned as to the suitability of this project for Canadian aid, without making any commitment on behalf of Canada.

7. University of Dalat The Delegation should hold informal conversations on this subject with Vietnamese representatives, without making any commitment on Canada's behalf.

8. Programme of Aid for Malaya The Canadian Delegation should indicate to the Delegation of Malaya, if appropriate, that Canada has under study the possibility of a somewhat expanded programme of aid to that country.

9. Other Questions of Aid to Indo-Chinese States The Delegation should indicate, if required, that as far as further technical assistance to the Indo-Chinese states is concerned our limitations are physical, rather than financial; they should bear in mind that the institutional and administrative arrangements affecting technical assistance in Indo-China are not as effective as in areas in which we have missions, or in which the local administrations are more highly organized. As to capital aid for Indo-China, the only projects which are under consideration at present are covered in f] and g] above.⁸⁴

⁸³ Voir/See Document 409.

⁸⁴ Il n'y a pas de référence directe à ce document dans les conclusions du Cabinet. Le 12octobre 1957, le Cabinet a noté que le ministre sans portefeuille, W.J.Browne, dirigerait la délégation canadienne à la réunion de Saïgon, au lieu du secrétaire d'État aux Affaires extérieures récemment nommé, Sidney Smith, qui se préparait à disputer des élections partielles dans la circonscription de Hastings-Frontenac, en Ontario. Le Cabinet a autorisé M.Browne à annoncer que le Canada, en attente de l'approbation du Parlement, apporterait une contribution de 35millions$ au Plan Colombo en 1958-1959.
There is no direct reference to this document in the Cabinet Conclusions. On October 12, 1957, Cabinet noted that the Minister without Portfolio, W.J.Browne, would lead the Canadian delegation to the Saigon meeting in place of the newly-appointed Secretary of State for External Affairs, Sidney Smith, who was preparing to contest a by-election in the Ontario riding of Hastings-Frontenac. Cabinet authorized Browne to announce that Canada, pending the approval of Parliament, would contribute 35million dollars to the Colombo Plan in 1958-1959.