Papers of the War Cabinet's Eastern Committee [‎64v] (128/544)

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of these the second and third were entirely closed ; the first and last
were very long and circuitous.
Mr. Montagu said that he, too, was of opinion that it was not
necessary to have a representative of the Ministry on the Committee.
As a matter of fact, India had asked to be placed in direct touch
with the Ministry of Information, and his department had replied
that such touch must be maintained through the India Office The department of the British Government to which the Government of India reported between 1858 and 1947. The successor to the Court of Directors. . He
himself would be quite prepared to work in with and make use of
Mr. 0 wen, on the condition that the Indian Government should make
their own arrangements in regard to propaganda, that is to say, that
Mr. Owen would supply films, leaflets, &c., as they might be
required, and that the rest should be left to the Indian Government.
He thought that a reply should be sent to the Minister of Information
to the efi’ect that the Committee had considered the proposal, but were
unable to accept it, and that the best thing would be for his
department to get into touch with the Foreign Office, India Office The department of the British Government to which the Government of India reported between 1858 and 1947. The successor to the Court of Directors. ,
and the War Office.
The Committee decided—
That Sir Mark Sykes should draft, and, submit for the Chairmans
approval, a reply to Mr. Gaselee on the general lines of his
memorandum to Lord Curzon.
Anglo-French
Agreement of
1916.
3. The Chairman said that the members of the Committee had
only received just before the meeting a memorandum by Sir Mark
Sykes reporting on his private and personal conference with
M. Georges Picot (E.C.-766), in which the whole of the situation Hr
regard to the Anglo-French Agreement of 191b had been reviewed.
Attached to this report w T ere two Papers which had been jointly
prepared by M. Picot and Sir Mark Sykes. Paper “A ” was a
suggested declaration to the King of the Hedjaz, put forward as a
method of dealing directly with the Arab difficulty. Paper “ B ”
was designed to clarify the position of France and Great Britain in
regard to the oppressed peoples of the Ottoman Empire; and in the
opinion of M. Pieot and Sir Mark Sykes, if the two Governments had
an exchange of views on the lines set forth in that Paper, they would
then have a logical basis for their future policy.
The Chairman said that the memorandum raised important
questions. It had, however, been received too late to be studied by
the Committee before the meeting, and he suggested that it should
be considered at their next meeting.
Mr. Balfour agreed and suggested that members, when studying
this Paper, should bear in mind the following considerations : The
Italians were exceedingly jealous of anything that we and the French
did in concert, and this factor could not be neglected. On the other
hand, M. Picot, according to the Italians, passed as an accredited
French official in Palestine, while the Italians were not accorded a
similar privilege. Again, the Italians had never forgiven the British
Government for making the Sykes-Picot Agreement without letting
the Italians know anything about it for a very considerable period.
Accordingly, we should come to no arrangements with the French
Government without keeping the Italians au courant with what was
being done. Moreover, from a selfish point of view, if we invariably
kept the Italians informed, we could almost certainly reh on their
support when we were in diplomatic difficulties with the French. Our
object apparently now was to destroy the Sykes-Picot Agreement.
If, however, we were to remain in tutelar)’- possession of Mesopotamia,
and the French remained in tutelary possession of Palestine and
Syria at the end of the war, while the Italians enjoyed no similar
advantages in Asia, endless difficulties would be raised.
Sir Mark Sykes said he had discussed the question with
M. Picot, who had suggested that when he, M. Picot, went back to
Syria, he should be High Commissioner and Adviser on Franco-