Britain Discusses India and Egypt

Text: BRITAIN DISCUSSES INDIA AND EGYPT

Narrator: Out Of London come new developments in Britain’s plans for a changing empire. Under Prime Minister Attlee, the government of the United Kingdom shapes a new policy for freeing India and withdrawing from Egypt. The policies of Ernest Bevin and Attlee have been criticized by British Conservatives. Here in Simla, India, the British continue their meetings with leaders of India’s two major parties, Congress and Moslem, and hope to break the deadlock by the formation of a federated India. Demands by the Moslems for a separate state have been refused, and a tense situation grips all India. Kalam Azad, Congress Party President, arrives by rickshaw. Pandit Nehru, famous Congress Party leader, relies on his piebald pony for transportation. One of the few cars brings Mohammad Ali Jinnah, Moslem head, second from the left. Meanwhile, thousands of miles away in Cairo, a closely related conference moves ahead. The British meet with Egyptian leaders, headed by Sidqi Pasha, Prime Minister. Lord Stansgate and the British delegation announce the end of a cycle of imperial history which has lasted 64 years, as Britain prepares to leave Egypt. Back in India, the meetings continue. Behind Britain’s decision to free India and get out of Egypt, observers see implications of far-reaching significance. The new British government is revising old policies in the light of new developments and modern thinking.