File 4673/1919 Pt 3 ‘Persian Gulf: Bahrein Mission to England 1919. Political business of Mission’ [‎345r] (77/164)

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"receile'du^ institution, will <loubtle 9S
aspect of the problem with which we ouSelvi ^ , ale m, ^ ted - Thc °"1>-
the possibility of the administration iindim^ itself faceThoweve'® 10 TP ha . s,8 °
its w,ll, with the necessity for drawing on Indian >abom-and Tn?i mU ° n“ gain8t
to carry out-its schemes. Not onlv wnnlH iIiIq t* * • 11 ^ lan cu ^ , vators
Kte tfK? tssr«SS3S - “T»
to render UCS ’ " 1 " Cl ' 11 be ' T,thi “ tlle r ’°' ver of our Irrigation Department
1[. We are not blind to the fact that the decision that India should
• diwnced rrom al1 , sl ' are 111 tlie administration of Mesopotamia will
m many quarters m India necessarily cause deep disappointment and
m some, no improbably, strong resentment. India has long been "mum
ami must always remain bound, to Mesopotamia by strong religion "s
ler commercial interests ,n Mesopotamia were considerable even before the
a!l ‘ "°, W tha * ln<lia •>»« shed her blood in the conquest of Mesopotamia
a ,uge section o her population is looking forward consciously or uncon-
sciously not merely to a very material development of those interests, but to
seeming m Mesopotamia a detimte held for employment and expansion. It
is clearly imperative that on the one hand nothing that can be avoided should
>l ' < I, ". H to embitter this disappointment, and on the other that we should do
everything m our power to mitigate it by compensations elsewhere. Any
foim ol restriction on the iree and natural emigration of Indians into
Mesopotamia whether for pilgrimage or trade or other lawful purposes
would inevitably arouse a storm of resentment far stronger, and we mav add
ai more legitimate, than any resentment evoked by the restrictions imposed
T ! r lr , e ' U , ly , Jn , t0 116 ,,o mimons, and would be calculated to raise the erv
+ i t r r i i i i v.u-iv-ujtxtcu iu Jetist me erv
hut India had been used as a catspaw lor the conquest of Mesopotamia.
i artly there lore to divert emigration as far as possible into oilier channels
a "' P art] y to satisfy in another form India’s natural and legitimate
dations, we stiongly urge that a definite field for expansion may be
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and
expectations, uiuu a ..eiiniie neia lor expansion
found elsewhere. Such a held as w’e have already suggested m our
Despatch No. 85 (Secret—War), dated 29th September 1910, would possibly
be found most suitably in East Africa, and if German East Africa is to
remain a British possession avg earnestly hope that arrangements may be
made not only to allow the free entry of Indians into it but to afford them
special facilities for the establishment of settlements and the acquisition of
land on reasonable terms.
10. It should, we think, be made clear that if India is to have no share
m .the administration of Mesopotamia, the trade which has for so long
existed between the two countries shall not suffer by the separation!
Indian tiadeis will naturally wish for an 11 open door into Mesopotamia,
and, if this cannot be assured to them, we assume that the treatment
accorded to Indian trade and industry will be at least as favourable as
that received by any other portion of the British Empire. Further, in
the interests of Indian traders and artisans, as also of Indian pilgrims, it
Avould be desirable that an officer of the Government of India should be
posted to Basra, and perhaps also to Baghdad, to advise the local
authorities and communicate when necessary with the Government of
India.
IL The administrative changes in the Gulf and at Aden now in
contemplation, will certainly cause some uneasiness at the outset to the
Sheikhs of Koweit, Bahrein, and Katr, the Sultan of Maskat and Bin Sand,
and in a lesser degree to the Arab chieftains under the control of Aden!
But an opportunity will doubtless be afforded us to explain the matter
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