GOVERNMENT OF BURMA

Press, Volume LXXXIII, Issue 25246, 26 July 1947, Page 9

GOVERNMENT OF BURMA

TRANSFER OF POWER BY BRITAIN LEGISLATION PROPOSED NEXT AUTUMN (Rec. 7 p.m.) LONDON, July 25. The Secretary of State for Burma (the Earl of Listowel), in the House of Lords, announced that the Government would introduce legislation in the autumn to give effect to the transfer of power to the Burmese Government. Burma and Britain would immediately exchange missiofis to reach a provisional agreement on questions arising from the transfer of power. Both countries had agreed that if Burma decided to become an independent State outside the British Com-

monwealth, they would continue to maintain the most cordial relations. Britain, to emphasise that she desired Burma to achieve full independence as early as possible, had agreed that the present Burmese Interim Government should become a Provisional Government until the transfer of power was completed. The Prime Minster (Mr Attlee), in the House of Commons, made a statement similar to Lord Listowel’s. He added that the Burmese Executive Council had approved the agreement with Britain almost immediately before the assassinations in Rangoon last Saturday. Mr Attlee, replying to Mr R. A. Eden, said that British troops in Burma, in the interim period, would be responsible for Burma’s external defence and the safeguarding of British special interests in Burma. They were available for internal security if the Burmese Government requested.