asked (1) the Under-Secretary of State for India what steps, if any, have the India Office recommended to the Government in India in regard to giving consideration to the representation received from the Chamber of Shipping for the United Kingdom against the proposed Indian Bill for reserving coastal shipping trade of India for the Government or the companies in India;

(2), asked the Secretary to the Overseas Trade Department what steps his Department proposes to take with regard to the representations received from the Chamber of Shipping for the United Kingdom asking the British Government to intervene and to prevent from becoming law the proposed measure in India for reservation of coastal shipping trade; and will he state what is the substance of these representations?

If the hon. Member is referring to the letter received by my Noble Friend Lord Birkenhead in September last from the Chamber of Shipping of the United Kingdom, no recommendations were made to the Government of India on the subject, as they had already announced that they were opposed to the Bill now before the Indian Legislature providing for the reservation of the coastal shipping trade. The representations made by the Chamber of Shipping were based upon economic grounds, and reproduce the arguments used by the opponents of the Bill in the Indian Legislative Assembly.