Statement by the President Upon Signing "Food for Peace" Agreement Between the United States and India
This is a ceremony, Mr. Ambassador and Minister Patil, in which I am both honored and delighted to participate.
The agreement that we have just signed is a practical application of the term "Food for Peace."
In a world marked too often by fears and distrust, it warms my heart to take part in an event which is the product of mutual respect and ever-growing friendship.
When I was in your country last December, I caught the spirit of progress that abounds in the new India. What we can do to lend encouragement, to lend a helping hand, we are most happy to do.
My thoughts go back to the day--it was December eleventh--when I was in New Delhi at the opening of the great World Agriculture Fair. I recall the words of your Prime Minister, Mr. Nehru, when he said that "in this world today, the call is for ever greater cooperation between individuals, between groups, between nations."
When Mr. Nehru spoke of cooperation, he was speaking of true cooperation, joint effort in behalf of the common good. What we are observing here today is the signing of a cooperative agreement, freely entered into by each nation, pledged by each of us as equal partners in the world community.
This is the fifth and by far the largest of such agreements entered into by our two nations. By terms of these agreements, 587 million bushels of wheat and 22 million bags of rice, to be paid in rupees, will be moved to India over a four-year period. We are fortunate in having this means of sharing our abundance.
India is going forward with a zeal and determination that commands our unreserved admiration and respect. Its people are successfully embarked on the road to improved economic well-being in freedom.
The food that we make available under our special programs today will be reflected in India's accelerated progress tomorrow.
This is what we mean by "Food for Peace."
Note: The agreement was signed at the White House by the President and the Indian Minister of Food and Agriculture, S. K. Patil. In his opening words the President referred to Ambassador M. C. Chagla of India who was among those present at the signing.
In a White House release of the same date it was noted that the agreement, the fifth to be signed with India under the Agricultural Trade Development and Assistance Act, was unique in the following respects: (1) it was almost four times as large as any agreement previously signed with any country since the beginning of the program in 1954; (2) it was the first agreement to span a period of 4 years; (3) and it was the first agreement specifically designed to help a country in establishing substantial food reserves; one-fourth of the wheat and all of the rice being available for that purpose. The agreement was published in pamphlet form in the Treaties and Other International Acts Series (TIAS 4499; Government Printing Office, 1960).
On April 13, 1960, the White House announced the appointment of Special Assistant to the President Don Paarlberg as Food for Peace Coordinator. The release noted that the Food for Peace program, although based on the 1954 act, represented a new effort to explore with other surplus-producing nations all practical means of utilizing surpluses in the interest of reinforcing peace and the well-being of friendly peoples throughout the world--as was first announced by the President in his message on agriculture of January 29, 1959.
Dwight D. Eisenhower, Statement by the President Upon Signing "Food for Peace" Agreement Between the United States and India Online by Gerhard Peters and John T. Woolley, The American Presidency Project https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/node/234268