[Letter to Sardar Swaran Singh]

Summary

This two-page letter, dated November 7, 1964, records Dahyabhai V. Patel’s request that the Ministry of External Affairs reconsider its refusal to permit an Indian parliamentary delegation to attend an anti-Communist conference of Asian peoples in Taipei. Patel explains that he had recently travelled with a West German parliamentary delegation and had already agreed to join the Taipei conference, but learned that permission had been withheld by the ministry.

Key points

• Dahyabhai V. Patel writes from Bombay to Sardar Swaran Singh, then Minister of External Affairs.
• Patel had joined a parliamentary delegation from West Germany and returned to Bombay shortly before writing.
• He reports that permission for an Indian delegation to visit Taipei had been refused.
• Patel distinguishes the visiting parliamentarians from the Government of India and stresses that they represented opposition parties.
• He refers to a prior visit to Taiwan in June and to a protest from Red China over that visit.
• He argues that restrictions on foreign travel were intended only to conserve foreign exchange.
• The letter asks the minister to reconsider the decision quickly and grant the necessary permission.