THE PRESIDENT'S DAILY BRIEF 20 MAY 1974

• Document Type: FOIA
• Collection: President's Daily Brief 1969-1977
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): 0006007961
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: T
• Document Page Count: 15
• Document Creation Date: August 14, 2016
• Document Release Date: August 24, 2016
• Publication Date: May 20, 1974

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The President's Daily Brief
May 20, 1974
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Exempt from general
declassification schedule of E.O. 11652
exemption category 5B( I
declassed only on approval of
the Director of Central Intelligence
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THE PRESIDENT'S DAILY BRIEF
May 20, 1974
PRINCIPAL DEVELOPMENTS
Preliminary analysis of India's first nuclear deto-
nation
/(Page /)
Israeli patrol boats yesterday shelled the second
largest Palestinian refugee camp in Lebanon. Else-
where fighting was light. (Page 3)
? Giscard d'Estaing's maiden speech as President of
France is being interpreted as an effort to improve
the tone of Franco-US relations. (Page 4)
Extremely close election returns in Australia so.
.far point to the Labor government's continued con-
trol of the House, and thus the government, (Page (5)
Turkish Prime Minister.Ecevit announced yesterday
that his four-month-old coalition government could
not continue in office. (Page .8)
Communist military attacks in South Vietnam increased
during the weekend. (Page 7)
Chou En-lai's public appearances this weekend show
that he continues on a reduced schedule. Arab for-
eign and defense ministers meet today in Cairo.
(Page 8)
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ILLEGIB
ILLEGIB
Indian Nuclear Test
NISTAN
CHINA
3AKISTAN
Great
? Indian
Desert
NEW DELHI
SIKK IM
BANGLADES
Calcutta.
BURMA
Arabian Sea
Bay of Bengal
SRI
LANKA
(CEYLON)
400 Miles
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INDIA
Preliminary analysis of seismic data from In-
dia's first nuclear detOnation)
/ The detona-
tion occurred at a depth of slightly more than 100
meters and was completely contained, according to
the chairman of India's Atomic Energy Commission,
Dr. H. N. Sethna. Indian scientists who made an:
aerial survey over the area within 30 minutes of the
blast reportedly detected no significant radioac-
tivity. The device reportedly utilized the "implo-
sion" technique, a more sophisticated approach than
the "gun assembly" method used by the US in the bomb
dropped on Hiroshima.
Dr. Sethna was noncommittal when asked if any
more tests were planned. The New Delhi press re-
ported yesterday, however, that a series of nuclear
explosions will be carried out. No program was dis-
closed, but Indian officials are said to have stated
that the purpose would be to develop atomic devices
for use in.mining, canal construction, and the deep-
ening and widening of ports.
There will undoubtedly be strong pressures on
the government. to develop a military capability.
the Indians deny any intention to produce
nuclear weapons,
(continued)
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Peking's initial reaction was a terse, factual
announcement broadcast by the New China New Agency's
domestic service some 24 hours after the test.. Chi-
nese spokesmen have thus far refused to make any
comment.
China has much to sort out in formulating a
substantive response. Peking has consistently ?main-
tained that its own nuclear capability is purely de-
fensive and aimed solely at breaking the nuclear
monopoly of the "superpowers." The Chinese have op-
posed nuclear arms limitations proposals, particularly
the 1968 Non-Proliferation Treaty, on the grounds that
they contribute to this monopoly. Peking has refused,
for example, to take a stand against France's develop-
ment of independent nuclear capabilities pending an
international agreement banning all nuclear weapons.
The Indian test, however, has direct security
implications for China. Peking has long looked on
New Delhi as a rival in Asia, and relations between
them cooled even further after India became a Soviet
treaty, partner in 1971.
In a hard-hitting public statement, Pakistani
Prime Minister Bhutto insisted Pakistan would never
be intimidated by the threat created by India's nu-
clear capability. He said that Pakistan would at-
tempt to secure political assurances against India's
use of a nuclear threat. Bhutto added that the pos-
sibility of a no-war pact proposed by India in 1971
is out of the question now because it would amount
to capitulation to blackmail.
Pakistan's Foreign Secretary is being sent to
China, France, and the UK, and Bhutto himself is
raising the matter with Soviet leaders and officials
in Canada. 7
The Soviet news agency Tass called the test a
"peaceful explosion" and said India was "striving
to keep up with world technology in the peaceful
uses of nuclear explosions."
The Japanese predictably are reacting with dis-
may. Tokyo papers have denounced the test, which
the Japanese are likely to view as an unsettling
factor in Asian affairs.
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'
Palestinian Camp Shelled By Israeli Patrol Boats
Beirut
Mediterranean
Qatana.
Lake
Tiberias
Syrian Line
967 Cease-
Fire Line
Shaykh
?
Miskin
k
WEST
10 20
Kilometers
10
Miles
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ISRAEL-LEBANON-SYRIA
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Israeli naval patrol boats yesterday shelled
the Ar Rashidiyah Palestinian refugee camp, the
second largest in Lebanon.
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? Beirut reported that Lebanese army troops and
Palestinian guerrillas damaged one of the Israeli
patrol boats. Tel Aviv, however, states that all
boats returned safely and that there were no casual-
ties.. Initial reports of Palestinian losses state
that at least five persons were killed and twelve
Were Wounded.
Israeli aircraft flew reconnaissance missions
and defense patrols over southern Lebanon and the
Golan Heights on both Saturday and Sunday. There
were no strikes against .pither Lebanese or Syrian
targets. Lebanese authorities reported that Israeli
forces fired mortar rounds into Lebanon near Mount
Hermon and into border areas between Tyre and Qiryat
Shempna On Friday night. Ground fighting between
Israel and Syria was light over the weekend; only
sporadic artillery and mortar fire was exchanged.
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FRANCE.
? Independent Republican Valery Giscard d'Estaing
was elected President of France yesterday by a razor-
thin margin. Giscard claimed his prize in a late-
night televised speech, which he immediately repeated
in English. The press is already interpreting this
move as his first effort to improve the tone of Franco-
US relations.
Mitterrand conceded at midnight. His ally, Com-
munist party chief Georges Marchais, added that leftist
deputies will immediately demand action on Giscard's
promised social and economic reforms.
Giscard will have several months, prob-
ably until September, to set his reforms in motion
befOre facing any serious pressures, such as strikes
and demonstrations, from a dissatisfied left.
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? AUSTRALIA
Extremely close election returns to date point
to the Labor government's continued control of the
House of Representatives and thus the government.
The government's majority, however, probably will be
trimmed from the eight-seat margin it had in the
previous Parliament. Senate returns are still frag-
mentary, and it is uncertain whether Labor will
achieve control over the upper house. Whitlam's
frustration with the obstructionism of the opposition-
controlled Senate was what led him to call the elec-
tions.
? The apparently slim margin of the Whitlam gov-
ernment's return to office will reduce the likeli-
hood of its being able to move ahead on its stalled
legislative program.
The final composition of the House may not be
known for two weeks. Australian law requires that
in case of a close House race, election authorities
must wait ten days for absentee ballots to come in
before proceeding to a final count. The tally of
votes for the Senate will be particularly complicated
under the Australian system of preferential voting,
and the final Senate lineup may not be known for a
month.
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TURKEY
Prime Minister Ecevit's Republican Peoples
Party announced yesterday that the four-month-old
coalition government could not continue in office
"under present conditions."
?Ecevit is now conferring with the minority part-
ner in the coalition, the right-wing National Salva-
tion Party, whose failure to support the government
last week on a crucial amnesty bill put the viability
of the coalition in doubt. Formal resignation of the
government would usher in a period of uncertainty,
as Turkey would have to undertake a fresh search for
a government under the same difficult circumstances
that plagued its attempt to form a government follow-
ing inconclusive parliamentary elections last fall.
At that time it took the political parties three
months to put together a coalition with the required
majority.
Ecevit's resignation would probably have only a
limited effect on the government's decision to recon-
sider lifting the ban on opium production, as all
parties now favor lifting the ban. A right-wing coa-
lition, however, might be more sensitive to the im-
plications of lifting the ban on relations with the
US.
The alternatives now facing the government are
an Ecevit-led minority government, some kind of care-
taker regime, a new coalition, or elections, which
no party favors holding soon. Any of these could
involve a long political stalemate.
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.) \
\.? Tam Ky?
ei.
LAOS s--.? QUANG TIN
.,_-_,,j''------\r-?',?.1)
1. (
'.)
/
THAILAND
: 2
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Communist
shelling
SOUTH
IA
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Song Be
1Bridge ?
Be Cat 'Phu
..??????\.
Saigon
iao
'DUONG
Communist
shelling attackha *rang
VIETNAM
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SOUTH VIETNAM
? Communist military activity continued at an in-
creased pace over the weekend. Sharp ground fighting
was reported in several areas, particularly near Tam
? Ky in northern Quang Tin Province. Communist forces
shelled Qui Nhon, the capital of coastal Binh Dinh
Province, with rockets. South Vietnamese air bases
at nearby Phu Cat and Nha Trang also were attacked
with rockets.
Nearer Saigon, the South Vietnamese reinforced
the Ben Cat and Phu Giao sectors of Binh Duong Province
with three armored and infantry task forces. They
also launched retaliatory ground and air strikes
against elements of the Communist 7th and 9th Divi-
sions, which last week overran several outposts and
villages near Ben Cat and threatened to take the Song
Be bridge, thus isolating the town of Phu Giao. The
South Vietnamese air force claims to have destroyed
two of the five or six tanks that supported Communist
ground attacks in these areas.
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NOTES
China: Chou En-lais public appearance's during
the Visit of Cypriot President Makarios this weekend
?show that he continues to be on a reduced schedule.
Chou did not appear at the airport arrival ceremonies,
but he greeted Makarios at the Peking guest house,
conducted the initial round of substantive talks,
and accompanied Makarios during a Meeting with Map.
Vice Premier Teng Hsiao-ping stood in for Chou as
host of a state banquet.
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Arab League: Arab foreign and defense ministers
meet. today in Cairo for a scheduled two-day session
of the Arab League Defense Council. Among the issues
to be discussed will be the Arab arms industry, the
current situation in the Middle East, and cooperation
between the Arabs and the European Communities. Arab
League Secretary General Riyad stated yesterday that
he would discuss Damascus ? request for an Arab sum-
mit meeting with the Syrian delegation.
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Top Secret
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