nehru visit to usa 1961

•  >> 

Nehru in the USA

Video clips of three visits.

NEW DELHI: At the Howdy Modi event at Houston it was left to the United States House Majority leader Steny Hoyer to quote the “father of India’s independence” Gandhi on democracy: “‘Something that gives the weak the same chance as the strong’ - that my friends is what the ideal of the American democracy and the Indian one are all about. Equal opportunity to dream and make the dreams come true.”

And to recall the India that gained independence to secure “a future according to Gandhi’s teachings and Nehru’s vision. As a secular democracy with respect for secularism and human rights, to safeguard every individual.” Hoyer addressing the Indian-Americans, with Prime Minister Narendra Modi standing beside him spoke of how on the eve of India’s independence Nehru had praised and quoted Gandhi, and together both had pledged that “so long there are tears and suffering so long our work will not be over.” The Majority leader went on to quote the late US President Abraham Lincoln who had called for “malice towards none and charity for all.” This speech widely circulated on the social media brought India’s first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru back into the public eye on the ever active social media, with Congress leader Shashi Tharoor tweeting a photograph that he claimed was of Nehru’s visit to the USA, except that it was of Moscow.

However, Nehru did make three important visits to the US in 1949, 1956 and 1961. The video clips below of these visits speak of the warm welcome he received in those times from the successive Presidents of the US, Harry S. Truman, Dwight D.Eisenhower and John F.Kennedy with whom he had three meetings during the one visit. 1949

Latest News

THE CITIZEN BUREAU

Similar posts.

• Skip to global NPS navigation
• Skip to the main content
• Skip to the footer section

Exiting nps.gov

Prime minister jawaharlal nehru.

Eisenhower NHS Photo

Jawaharlal Nehru was born on November 14, 1889, in Allahabad, India. He was leader of India’s nationalist movement and India’s first prime minister after independence (1947-1964).  

Nehru was educated at home until age 16 and then continued his education in England at the Harrow School and later at Trinity College in Cambridge, where he earned a degree in natural science. He then studied law at the Inner Temple in London before returning to India in 1912 where he practiced law until 1919. 

In 1919, Nehru became aware of the Jallianwala Bagh massacre. The massacre, also known as the Massacre of Amritsar, was an event in which 379 innocent people were killed and at least 1,200 wounded when the British army continuously fired for ten minutes on a crowd of unarmed Indians. The incident changed Nehru's life. In concert with his father, Motilal Nehru, Jawaharlal devoted himself to the struggle for India’s independence from the British Empire. 

During the Non-Cooperation Movement (1920-22) led by Mahatma Gandhi, Nehru was imprisoned for the first time for activities against the British government. Over the next two and a half decades, he spent a total of nine years in jail. Given his compelling oratory and close association to Gandhi, he was elected president of the Indian National Congress in 1929. From 1930 to 1936, Nehru was in jail for conducting civil disobedience campaigns.  

During World War II, Nehru desired to support the Allied war effort. However, Nehru’s views on the war differed from those of Gandhi. Initially, Gandhi believed that whatever support was given to the British should be given unconditionally and that it should be of a nonviolent character. Nehru held that nonviolence had no place in defense against aggression and that India should support Great Britain in a war against Nazism but only as a free country.  

Nehru was imprisoned nine times during WWII over involvement in actions related to support for Indian independence from Great Britain. He was released from his last detention on June 15, 1945.  

In 1946, Nehru joined India’s interim government as deputy prime minister (the British viceroy being considered prime minister) and minister of external affairs. From India’s independence in 1947 until his death, Nehru continuously held the posts of prime minister and minister of external affairs. In 1947, despite his reservations, Nehru acquiesced to the Muslim League’s plan to divide India, and in August 1947, Pakistan was created - Pakistan being primarily Muslim and India predominantly Hindu. 

Nehru’s name is associated with the development and implementation of the basic principles of the internal and foreign policy of the Republic of India, which have been referred to as the “Nehru course.” Chiefly, he oversaw India's transition from a colony to a republic, while nurturing a plural, multi-party system.    

Starting in the late 1940s, both the United States and the U.S.S.R. began seeking out India as an ally in the Cold War. However, Nehru, led a “non-alignment policy”, by which India and other nations wouldn’t feel the need to tie themselves to either country in order to thrive. Therefore, Nehru is considered a founder of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) of nations professing neutrality. 

Prime Minister Nehru visited the United States in late 1956, arriving in Washington D.C. on December 16. On the following morning, President Eisenhower met him at the Blair House and together they drove to Eisenhower’s Gettysburg farm. Nehru’s visit to the farm was the first of a foreign leader and was carefully fitted into the official itinerary. Together they spent that day and part of the next in some fourteen hours of conversation. During the visit, Nehru became the only world leader to stay overnight at the farm as part of his visit during the Eisenhower administration.

On December 18th, Nehru and Eisenhower returned to Washington. Nehru went to the White House the next morning and they continued private talks. In the end, President Eisenhower had made fourteen pages of notes on their conversations. 

Some of the topics discussed during the visit addressed India’s neutrality, socialism, and the way the “third world” viewed the actions of the President of the United States. More specifically, what was the Indian government’s stance on the U.S. actions during the Hungarian Revolt and the Suez Crisis? Prime Minister Nehru was an information conduit for President Eisenhower on how "third world" nations viewed the West.  

In his memoir Waging Peace 1956-1961 , President Eisenhower stated that he liked Prime Minister Nehru and that he deeply sympathized with the problems that Chinese aggression had caused India. He believed that Nehru sincerely wanted to help the Indian people and lead them to higher levels of living and opportunity. He thought it fair to conclude that Nehru was essential to India. 

Dwight D. Eisenhower Memorial , Eisenhower National Historic Site

You Might Also Like

• dwight d. eisenhower memorial
• eisenhower national historic site
• president eisenhower

Last updated: July 22, 2022

Find Brut. on:

Indian edition

PM Nehru’s 1961 trip to the US

He was invited for dinner at the White House, spoke at the UN General Assembly, and interacted with the diaspora… This was Prime Minister Nehru in 1961.

• Share on WhatsApp
• Share on Facebook
• Share on Twitter
• Copy the URL

You will like also

• Ground Reports
• 50-Word Edit
• National Interest
• Campus Voice
• Security Code
• Off The Cuff
• Democracy Wall
• Around Town
• PastForward
• In Pictures
• Last Laughs
• ThePrint Essential

New Delhi: During the 2+2 ministerial dialogue attended by Indian and American foreign and defence ministers in Washington Monday, US Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken made a reference to the first-ever summit level meeting held between an Indian and American head of state.

On 11 October 1949, former Indian Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru arrived in Washington where he was warmly welcomed by former US President Harry S Truman. Nehru spent three weeks travelling across the US, meeting members of the House and Senate and addressing several meetings in which he laid out India’s foreign policy interests. According to Blinken, the visit marked the start of a “friendly and fruitful cooperation” between the two countries.

“Very soon after our countries established diplomatic relations, some 75 years ago, Prime Minister Nehru came to visit the United States. President Truman met him on the tarmac of the airport. And Prime Minister Nehru noted the importance of the moment, saying, and I quote: ‘I trust that these two republics of the Western World and the Eastern World will find many ways of working together in friendly and fruitful cooperation to our mutual advantage, and for the good of humanity’,” said Blinken Monday.

“So for nearly 75 years, we’ve done just that. And I’m grateful to our partners for making it possible for that ‘friendly and fruitful cooperation’ to continue and to deepen,” he added.

Blinken’s comments come at a time when differences have arisen between New Delhi and Washington amid the Ukraine war, whether over India’s oil trade with Russia or its decision to abstain from votes criticising Russia at the United Nations. Earlier this month, US Deputy National Security Advisor for International Economics, Daleep Singh, had also warned New Delhi against continuing energy trade with Russia.

Nehru and Truman’s visit in 1949 also came amid frictions vis-à-vis changes in the international order. The Chinese Communist Party had just come into power and the Cold War had just started.

ThePrint explains the historic 1949 visit, the bonhomie between the two leaders and whether Nehru achieved what he sought to achieve from the visit.

Also read: Bid to save funds or a catastrophe? Why govt has merged 4 film bodies under I&B ministry

‘Good-will tour’

As noted by most historians and media reports at the time, Nehru was given a warm welcome upon his maiden visit in Washington DC in 1949, flying in on Truman’s personal plane The Independence. This was the first of Nehru’s four visits to the US — returning in 1956, in 1960 and in 1961.

While on the tarmac at the Washington National Airport on 11 October 1949, both leaders made brief remarks. Truman referenced explorer Christopher Columbus by saying , “Destiny willed it that our country should have been discovered in the search for a new route to yours. I hope your visit, too, will be in a sense a discovery of the United States of America.”

Nehru, as noted by Blinken at Monday’s meeting, expressed hope that the two countries would embark on “friendly and fruitful cooperation” that would work to both their advantages, whilst also serving the “good of humanity”.

Popularly described as a “ goodwill tour ”, Nehru spent three weeks touring the US. He met members of the House and the Senate and also made trips to metropolises such as Chicago and New York as well as places like Tennessee Valley and Illinois in the countryside. He interacted with businesspersons, artisans and academics alike.

The former Indian prime minister was accompanied by the first secretary general in the Ministry of External Affairs, G. S. Bajpai, as well as Nehur’s daughter, Indira Gandhi, who later became the country’s prime minister too.

Bonhomie between Nehru and Truman

Given the warm hospitality at Washington and Truman’s intent to help Nehru ‘discover’ his country, the two leaders developed a bonhomie during the 1949 visit. According to an archived report by The Hindu , Truman had remarked, “Pandit Nehru has made a profound impression on me…He is not only a fine gentleman but a great public servant”.

He hoped the visit would lead to more cordial relations between India and the US, the report added.

Before leaving, Nehru penned a letter dated 6 November, 1949, to the former American president.

“My dear Mr President, I am leaving the United States tomorrow on my way back home. On the eve of my departure, I must again convey to you my deep gratitude for your great kindness and hospitality. I have spent three and a half weeks in this great and wonderful country and have been greatly impressed by what I have seen and heard. Above all I have been moved by the generous and warm-hearted welcome that I have received everywhere from all classes of people and the goodwill that has been shown not only to me but to my country also,” read the letter.

“I am sure that my people have also been moved, as I have been, and that this visit of mine has led to a deeper understanding between our respective countries leading to closer bonds in future,” it added.

Truman’s subsequent correspondence reveals that Nehru had also gifted him a portrait.

“My dear Mr. Prime Minister, I have received with appreciation your gracious letter and your portrait sent upon your departure from the United States. You may be assured that your visit has been a source of great pleasure not only to me, but to the American people,” Truman wrote in a letter dated 23 November, 1949.

Also read: Built with Israeli know-how & an Indian touch, new MRSAM system is key addition to Army arsenal

Did the visit achieve what it needed to?

Experts have noted that apart from starting a new chapter in bilateral relations, Nehru sought to secure commitments of food aid during his visit to the US in 1949, given the Bengal famine had occurred just six years earlier.

In this respect, some reports called the visit a “flop”. A Politico report noted, “Nehru’s session with Truman proved to be a flop; the president declined to offer US economic aid to a nation that recently emerged from British colonial rule and had proclaimed itself neutral in the developing Cold War with the Soviet Union.”

However, some experts felt the visit was important as it included an eye-opening meeting with farmers in Illinois’ Fox River Valley.

A 2018 blog post published in the Truman Library Institute, a presidential library, mentions how Nehru visited three family farms in Illinois and was “surprised to learn about gas-powered stoves, mechanical corn pickers, and milking machines”. This was in contrast to farming in India which was and is still mainly done by hand.

Though the commitments to food aid weren’t solidified on this visit, India and US eventually struck a loan deal for two million tonnes of wheat two years later.

Apart from food aid, the visit was critical from the lens of China, where the Chinese Communist Party had come into power just two weeks before Nehru’s arrival in the US.

The Truman Library Institute’s blog post claimed that US, at the time, viewed India as a possible “democratic and capitalist counterweight” to communist China.

However, a Brookings’ report titled ‘The Orientation in the Orient (1949–1952)’ said Washington didn’t consider India strategically important at all.

At the time, the US judged a country’s value in terms of “skilled manpower and industrial potential” capable of significantly changing the balance of world power. “In Asia, Japan met these criteria; China and India did not,” the Brookings’ report said.

It added that the administration considered India to be even less vital than China. “A CIA report in September 1947 placed it among the least important countries for the US. India had neither industrial-military capacity nor skilled manpower, and its resources were not indispensable,” the report noted.

Also read: Church, museum & UNESCO heritage site, mosque — Turkey’s Hagia Sophia has been all that & more

Subscribe to our channels on YouTube , Telegram & WhatsApp

Support Our Journalism

India needs fair, non-hyphenated and questioning journalism, packed with on-ground reporting. ThePrint – with exceptional reporters, columnists and editors – is doing just that.

Sustaining this needs support from wonderful readers like you.

Whether you live in India or overseas, you can take a paid subscription by clicking here .

• Antony Blinken
• India-US relations
• Jawaharlal Nehru

LEAVE A REPLY Cancel

Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment.

Most Popular

Changing demographics, redefined hindutva — the sena-muslim dynamic, from bal thackeray to uddhav, neet ‘leak’: bihar finds jharkhand link, ‘lapses’ by blue dart & sbi after submitting report to centre, with right tweaks, agnipath can be a global model for military & govt jobs.

Required fields are marked *

Copyright © 2024 Printline Media Pvt. Ltd. All rights reserved.

• Terms of Use
• Privacy Policy

It's JFK Membership Month! Join now to help us inspire tomorrow's leaders.

India: security, briefing book nehru visit, november 1961, about folder.

• Arrival ceremonies for Jawaharlal Nehru, Prime Minister of India, 4:20PM

NewsApp (Free)

India-USA: A friendship that began way back then

As Prime Minister Narendra Modi begins his historic visit of the United States of America, here’s a look at some landmark visits by Indian prime ministers to the United States of America. 

1) Jawaharlal Nehru

Key visit: December 1956 All trips: October-November, 1949; December 16-20, 1956; September 26, 1960 to attend UNGA; and November 6-10, 1961

I n 1949, Nehru spent three weeks travelling across the US, addressing several meetings at which he explained India’s foreign policy tenets. It was a public relations success but the official part of his American visit, particularly his meetings with then US President Harry S Truman, were a flop. Truman refused to help with economic or food aid.

It was Nehru’s 1956 visit that heralded the best years of India-US ties. Nehru spent a day and a half at then US President Dwight D Eisenhower’s Gettysburg farm, with the two leaders holding discussions for about 14 hours. Nehru and Eisenhower built a healthy rapport. In the next few years, the Eisenhower administration doubled economic aid to India to $822 million and approved the PL 480 food programme. In 1959, Eisenhower paid a hugely successful visit to India. Nehru’s last visit to the US (1961) proved disappointing, despite then US President John F Kennedy holding him in high esteem. As a senator, Kennedy had been a supporter of more aid to India. The 1961 Nehru-Kennedy summit meetings were tepid. The 71-year-old Indian leader came across as too tired, with Kennedy forced to keep up the conversation. “It was like trying to grab something in your hand, only to have it turn out to be fog,” Kennedy said of his discussions with Nehru. Kennedy rated it his “worst state visit ever”. But the Kennedy administration approved increased aid.

In November 1961, Time magazine reported Nehru’s schedule in the US was so crowded that it “barely left him time to change the perennial red rose on his achkan tunic”.

2)  Indira Gandhi

Key visit: November 1971 All trips: March 27-April 1, 1966; November 3-6, 1971; July 27-31, 1982

I ndira Gandhi visited the US in 1966, within two months of taking over as India’s PM. Then US President Lyndon B Johnson was much impressed by her. The visit helped India secure more food and development aid from the US. But soon, ties went downhill because of Johnson’s tight-fisted attitude to PL 480, and New Delhi’s refusal to support America on Vietnam.

In 1971, a month before the India-Pakistan war, Gandhi visited the US to convince Washington of the humanitarian crisis in Bangladesh (then East Pakistan), citing the excesses of the Pakistani army. Her equation with then US President Richard Nixon had never been healthy. At that time, Nixon needed Islamabad for rapprochement with China.

Complete Coverage: Modi's US visit

In the process, India was thrown into the arms of Soviet Russia. India-US relations hit rock bottom, with Americans suspecting India of inciting the conflict in East Pakistan. During their statements on the White House lawns, Nixon skipped the subject of atrocities in East Pakistan, receiving a pointed rebuke from Gandhi. Next day, he made her wait 45 minutes for a formal meeting.

Excerpts from the external affairs ministry’s annual report for the year 1971-72 bear out the testy relationship: “Every stratagem of effort and persuasion was tried by India to make the US administration respond with some human feeling to the epochal carnage in East Bengal let loose by the West Pakistan military regime…No government in the world uses the terms ‘peace’ and ‘freedom’ so copiously as the leaders of the US administration do on every conceivable occasion. Yet, these words seemed to have no meaning for them when it related to the people of Bangladesh…It seemed the last trace of the most elementary justice and compassion had dried up in the US administration.”

Gandhi’s 1982 visit, at then US President Ronald Reagan’s invitation, turned out to be markedly successful, with the two leaders agreeing on cooperation in science and technology and signing an agreement on the Tarapur nuclear plant and to mark 1985 as the ‘year of India’ in the US.

3) Morarji Desai Key visit: June 12-15, 1978

D esai visited the US within months of then US President Jimmy Carter’s visit to India in January that year. Desai’s visit went off well, despite the fact that Americans weren’t keen to ship enriched uranium for the Tarapur nuclear plant.

4) Rajiv Gandhi

Key visit: June 1985 All trips: June 11-15, 1985; October 23, 1985 to attend UNGA; and October 19-20, 1987

R ajiv charmed Washington during his June 1985 visit. To the Americans, he came across as less preachy than his grandfather, as well as his mother. He spoke softly, listened carefully and spoke with humour. He addressed the Congress, an honour earlier accorded to Nehru, not to Indira. Rajiv also opened the Festival of India and initiated negotiations on purchasing the Cray supercomputer for weather research. Rajiv’s 1987 visit was a tamer affair.

5) PV Narasimha Rao Key visit: May 1994 All trips: January 31, 1992 to attend UNGA; and May 17-20, 1994 R ao visited Washington in 1994, in the backdrop of the economic reforms his government had unleashed, and at a time when India-US ties were at a historical low. The US had repeatedly questioned India’s human rights record in Kashmir and Punjab and its nuclear weapons policy. It had pressured Russia to not sell cryogenic technology to India and disapproved of New Delhi's missile programme. Rao’s visit marked a revival in ties. The Indian PM spoke of the need to “free India-US relations from the distortions induced by the Cold War”. He addressed a joint meeting of Congress, indicated India would go slow on its missile programme and promised further economic reforms. The telecom sector was opened to American companies. The US recognised India as one of the 10 major markets for American trade and investment and became the largest investor in India’s infrastructure sector. Rao’s visit laid the foundations of closer India-US ties during the years of the Atal Bihari Vajpayee and the Manmohan Singh governments.

6) IK Gujral Key visit: September 22, 1997 to attend UNGA.

7) Atal Bihari Vajpayee Key visit: September 2000 All trips: September 13-17, 2000; November 7-9, 2001; September 12 2002 and September 24 2003 to UNGA

V ajpayee’s September 2000 visit was at a time when then US President Bill Clinton held Pakistan responsible for the violence in Kashmir. Washington also refused to meddle in Kashmir’s affairs at Islamabad’s beckoning. Economic ties were strengthened. Vajpayee termed India and the US “natural allies”. He addressed a joint session of Congress. His 2001 visit, months after the 9/11 terror attacks, paved the way for deeper intelligence sharing between the two countries, with New Delhi providing much strategic assistance pertaining to the Indian Ocean and South Asian regions to the George W Bush administration.

8) Manmohan Singh

Key visit: July 2005 All trips: September 21 2004 to attend UNGA; official visit July 17-20, 2005; working visit September 23-25, 2008; to attend G20 Summits November 2008 and September 2009, official state visit November 23-25, 2009, to attend Nuclear Security Summit April 11-13, 2010; working visit September 27 2013

T he joint statement issued after Singh and then US President George W Bush’s meeting on July 18, 2005, is a milestone in India-US relations. It built on the ‘Next Steps in Strategic Partnership’ signed in January 2004. The July 18 statement paved the way for civil nuclear cooperation between the two countries, as well as the deepening of defence ties. It also instituted dialogue on energy. Singh’s 2009 visit to Washington was also significant, as he was the first head of government to be hosted at the White House by the Barack Obama administration. It led to India and the US starting strategic dialogue, which now covers about 30 sectors.

India Votes 2024

More like this, vivekananda, desh ki dharti on modi show in new york, economic issues key to modi's us visit.

News India   |   Latest News India   |   Bollywood News   |   Indian Cricket Score   |   India Business News

Foreign Relations of the United States, 1961–1963, Volume XIX, South Asia

67. telegram from the department of state to the embassy in pakistan 0.

1122. For Rountree and Galbraith Only. Subject US sale military equipment to India discussed in position paper prepared Nehru visit follows: “US sympathetic towards India’s efforts to strengthen itself against increasing ChiCom military strength and aggressive inclinations. US prepared to consider Indian requests for certain items of dual-purpose military equipment such as transport aircraft, high-altitude helicopters, radar, engineer bridging and construction equipment, and to supply such items if desired on terms as favorable as circumstances permit.”

Dec. 4 letter from Defense 1 states Nehru visit position paper on military equipment sales “appears to provide sufficiently flexible basis for further action,” and that President “while not stating exact text of this [Page 151] position with Nehru did discuss matter of continuing US aid to India in terms which left opening for future discussion on this specific subject.” Citing various AIRA and Embtel New Delhi messages indicating Engineer 2 moving towards showdown with Menon also possible imminent arrival Soviet military sales mission to India, Defense believes positive action required now, that US should take steps convey substance our agreed policy sales military equipment to GOI either through Indian Embassy Washington or Embassy New Delhi.

As you aware President has also given personal commitment Ayub to discuss with GOP prior USG decision provide military aid to GOI . We believe Ayub would probably not object USG supplying GOI with dual-purpose military equipment (he had relatively mild reaction to USG supply C-119s in 1960 although this military sale) but we believe Ayub would object strongly USG supply F-104s or Sidewinders. Supply these two items complicated by classification although understand Defense may be able make unclassified version available Indians.

Dept understands Indians prefer pay rupees rather than dollars for US equipment and would probably consider rupee transactions as not inconsistent with India’s “neutralist” foreign policy. However, such transactions in US administrative procedures are considered MAP and India would undoubtedly be classified publicly along with US allies and others who receive US military assistance.

FY 1963 MAP now in initial stages preparation for Congressional presentation, and therefore time important.

Before taking decision on dual-purpose supply Department desires you discuss entire problem during your Dec 11-13 mtg and forward your recommendations. Particularly desire comments and recommendations on (1) advisability; (2) method of approach; (3) timing; and (4) possible repercussions. 3

• Source: Department of State, Central Files, 791.56/12-861. Secret; Priority; No Distribution Outside Department. Drafted in NEA/NR by Marvin C. Kettelhut and Edward A. Padelford on December 6; cleared by Weil and with G/PM and AID ; and approved by Talbot . Also sent to New Delhi. ↩
• A copy of this letter from William Bundy to Talbot is in the Washington National Records Center, RG 330, OASD/ISA Files: FRC 64 A 2382, India 440-702. ↩
• Air Marshal A.M. Engineer , Air Force Chief of Staff. ↩
• Galbraith and Rountree responded in joint telegram 1038 from Karachi, December 16. The Ambassadors agreed that it was inadvisable to inform the Pakistani Government about the policy concerning the sale of military equipment, as proposed in this telegram. The principal objection was the conviction of the Embassy in Karachi that to do so would cause major damage to U.S. relations with Pakistan. The Ambassadors disagreed on the desirability of indicating to the Indian Government U.S. willingness to receive military aid requests from India. Rountree felt strongly that to accede to such requests would have a similarly adverse effect upon U.S. relations with Pakistan. (Department of State, Central Files, 791.5/12-1661) ↩