Telegram no. 348 from Jawaharlal Nehru, the Prime Minister of India, to Liaquat Ali Khan, the Prime Minister of Pakistan, reporting that the Chairman of the Joint Defence Council has informed him of the complete impasse reached at the meeting held on 16 October when the Supreme Commander's paper, recommending the closure of his HQ on 30 November, was presented (see AUC/1267 above). The Chairman has also notified him of the invitation given to the Cabinet of India to examine the situation; and, accordingly, the Cabinet has met to consider the matter.
From the discussions at this meeting he has deduced that the Pakistan Government's objections are twofold: firstly, that a system which had been agreed by the two Governments before the transfer of power was being unilaterally abandoned before the completion of the task; and, secondly, that, because of this abandonment, neither Government could be sure of obtaining their fair share of stores held in the other Dominion.
The Cabinet of India was of the opinion that the Supreme Commander must be the best judge of the right time for closing down his HQ and fully supported his proposal to do so as soon as the movement of all major units had been completed, thus avoiding the anomalous position of having more senior officers to look after the stores of the two Dominions and the interests of British officers than there would be in the HQ of the Armed Forces of the two Dominions combined. As for the division of stores, the Cabinet of India did not consider that it should be impossible to devise a system which would ensure that both Dominions would receive the full quota of stores allotted by the Joint Defence Council; and the two Ministers of the Government of India who were present at the meeting on 16 October had given the assurance that Pakistan's due share of stores held in India would be handed over, a pledge endorsed by the Cabinet of India. Nehru does not doubt that a similar assurance would be given by the Cabinet of Pakistan.
It was suggested, moreover, in the India Cabinet that the Supreme Commander should be asked to supply duplicate lists of all stores at present held by him in both Dominions, one copy being given to each Dominion before his HQ closed down; and the Cabinet approved the proposal of the Chairman of the Joint Defence Council that the senior Commanders-in-Chief of each Dominion should become full members of the Joint Defence Council, and that they should set up an Inter-Dominion Committee to take the place of the Armed Forces Reconstitution Committee to complete partition and reconstitution of the Armed Forces and to arrange for the transfer of stores. The Government of India, therefore, intends to inform the Supreme Commander that his recommendations are acceptable and will be implemented, provided that the UK Government agrees to the proposed arrangements for looking after British personnel. Typescript.