Reference: Your telegram No. 793 of May 25.?

COMMITTEE OF THREE - QUESTIONNAIRE

Your thinking is evidently rather similar to ours. We agree that it would be desirable to clarify at the outset what the political aims of the alliance should be in the new inter national environment before considering the best way to achieve these aims through strengthening NATO in the non-military fields.

2. We have considered the useful ideas that you put forward and have prepared in the broadest terms a draft on the introductory section on political aims which is contained in my immediately following telegram. This embodies many of your ideas and even your words.

3. In the light of this statement of aims, the central tasks of the Committee of Three in the non-military field would appear to include the following main areas:

(1) to recommend to the Council ways and means by which the internal solidarity and unity of the NATO alliance may be strengthened;

(2) to recommend to the Council ways and means by which the relationships of interest and understanding between NATO, and non-NATO governments including the "neutral" and "uncommitted" countries may be strengthened;

(3) while maintaining and developing its strength as a coalition of free states to recommend to the Council ways and means of regaining the initiative by restating NATO's peaceful purposes, and by developing measures by which advantage may be taken of any genuine Soviet willingness to reduce tensions and achieve a durable basis of "competitive co-existence" and ultimately of genuine cooperation with the Soviet world.

4. We would propose to follow this up with some suggestions for a preliminary questionnaire which, together with the statement of aims, you might explore with your Italian and Norwegian colleagues together with Lord Ismay's cooperation in the preliminary work for the June meeting of the Committee of Three.

5. We agree entirely with Lange's view reported in your telegram number 794? that it is desirable for the Committee of Three to develop lines of definite policy on which they could ask the views of the Foreign Ministers but this need not hold up the preparation of some basic questions which will need to be included in any case in any questionnaire. If some preliminary work therefore could be completed before the June meeting, the Ministers could then have some point of departure if they agreed to use this questionnaire method in their consultations with other Governments.

L.B. PEARSON