December 4, 1961

Mr. L. P. Singh
3 Lodhi Gardens
New Delhi, India

Dear Mr. Singh:

I have finally been able to realize my hope of visiting India. I am going to spend the period from January 4th to 25th there, giving some lectures under the auspices of the State Department. My real purpose in going to India, however, is to become acquainted--in so far as one can in this limited time--with some of India's problems and how Indians visualize their country's role in the world and its future. It would be interesting for me to meet people in responsible positions, and even if they do not tell me a great deal more than I can read in the papers, it would still be educational to make a firsthand acquaintance with them.

To this end, I would be extremely grateful if you could help me to arrange some appointments with whomever you think might give me some perspective on India's problems. You know my unfortunate reputation as a military expert. However, I am primarily interested in foreign policy and in learning how serious people in India visualize their future.

When you were here, you mentioned that there might be a possibility of seeing the Prime Minister. You are aware, of course, of the press that Krishna Menon has here, and it would also be interesting for me to meet him. In addition, I would find it fascinating to see senior officials in the foreign ministry and whomever else you think it would be useful to meet. (Someone mentioned your Chief of Staff as a person of great vitality and intelligence.)

In the other places I am to visit, including Bombay, Madras and Calcutta, I would be interested to meet some of the state ministers but above all, the people whom you consider interesting, whether or not they are officials.

I would consider it a great personal kindness if I could impose on you to help me with these appointments. My program is being arranged by John T. Reid, Chief Cultural Affairs Officer, U.S. Information Service, Bahawalpur House, Sikandra Road, New Delhi.

P.S. My wife will be accompanying me.

Henry A. Klaasen

With kind regards.

in advance.

I look forward to hearing from you and I am most grateful

again.

be the case, it would of course still be a great pleasure to see you
push schedule does not permit you to do this for me. Should that

Please allow me to add that I will fully understand if your

time with Mr. Reid.

be for you to work out meetings separately, but then coordinate the
directions had a less official character. Perhaps the best thing would
for many reasons, however, I would prefer it if the intro-

Mr. L. P. Singh

December 4, 1961

December 28, 1961

(Dictated December 26)

Mr. L. P. Singh
Ministry of Home Affairs
Government of India
New Delhi, India

Dear Mr. Singh:

Your nice letter of the
15th has just arrived before my departure.
I appreciate very much everything you are
doing, and look forward to seeing you soon
in New Delhi.

Kind regards and all good
wishes.

February 19, 1962

Mr. L. P. Singh
3 Dādhi Gardens
New Delhi, India

Dear Mr. Singh:

I had just returned to this country last week to find that I had to go off to Europe for a week, so this is the first opportunity I have had to tell you how very much I appreciated everything you did to make my visit to India so memorable.

It would be idle to pretend that one has understood a great deal about a country as complex as India after only three weeks there, but I know that whatever I did learn I owe largely to you. I am extremely grateful to you, and hope there will be an opportunity sometime in the future to reciprocate in small part for all your kindnesses.

With kind regards and, again, many thanks.

P.S. Did you see the Pakistani press, which refuses to be mollified? A "man-made monkey" is one of their more endearing terms applied to me.

January 14, 1964

Mrs. L. S. Bryant
Director of Admissions
Radcliffe College
77 Brattle Street
Cambridge, Massachusetts

Dear Mrs. Bryant:

I understand from L. P. Singh, Special Secretary
of the Ministry of Home Affairs of India, that his daughter,
Vineeta, has applied for admission to Radcliffe.

I have known Mr. Singh ever since he studied as
a fellow at the Center for International Affairs at Harvard.
He is one of the two permanent heads of the Ministry of
Home Affairs in India—one of the key posts in one of the
key ministries of India. Singh is one of the ablest people
I have met and one of the nicest.

I met his daughter a few times when I visited India
two years ago. While I do not know her well, she made an
intelligent and serious impression.

I would recommend her highly.

January 14, 1964

Mr. Philip Driscoll
Dean of Admissions
Brandeis University
Waltham, Massachusetts

Dear Mr. Driscoll:

I understand from L. P. Singh, Special Secretary
of the Ministry of Home Affairs of India, that his daughter,
Vineeta, has applied for admission to Brandeis.

I have known Mr. Singh ever since he studied as a
fellow at the Center for International Affairs at Harvard.
He is one of the two permanent heads of the Ministry of
Home Affairs in India--one of the key posts in one of the
key ministries of India. Singh is one of the ablest people
I have met and one of the nicest.

I would recommend her highly.

January 14, 1964

Miss Jane Sehmann
Director of Admissions
Smith College
Northampton, Massachusetts

Dear Miss Sehmann:

I understand from L. P. Singh, Special Secretary of
the Ministry of Home Affairs of India, that his daughter,
Vineeta, has applied for admission to Smith.

I would recommend her highly.

L.P.Singh,
Special Secretary

Ministry of Home Affairs,
New Delhi, India,

17 Dec 63

Dear Dr. Kissinger,

I expect you will remember our eldest daughter, Vineeta, whom you met during your visit to India a couple of years ago. She will be graduating from the Delhi University next summer, and she is planning to go to the United States to study American History and Civilisation for a couple of years. She is applying to various institutions including Radcliffe, Brandeis, Bryn Mawr and Smith, and she tells me that if she can get admission to either Radcliffe or Brandeis, she would prefer these institutions to the others. I am, of course, aware that admission to these institutions, particularly to Radcliffe, is by no means an easy matter, and she must take her chance on her own merits. The object of my writing to you is to inform you that she is taking the liberty of mentioning you among the friends in the United States. As you know, the application forms have a column in which the applicant has to mention the names of friends in the United States, and obviously a young person can only mention the friends of his/her parents. I do hope that we are not presuming too much on your kindness in asking Vineeta to mention your name.

If she gets admission to Radcliffe or Brandeis, she will have the privilege and pleasure of calling on you and Mrs. Kissinger. She is a serious-minded girl and even after making allowance for a father's bias I feel she would make good use of her opportunities in the United States.