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Excellency:

I have the honor to refer to Your Excellency's letter of September 29, 1953, to my reply thereto of the same date, and to the memorandum of the French Government of September 3, 1953. This memorandum, together with its annexes, outlines the plans, programs and policies of the French Government for the intensified prosecution of the war against the Viet Mlnh by the forces of France, Cambodia, Laos, and Vietnam.

I. In accordance with the request of the French Government, the United States Government has carefully considered these documents with a view to determining the contribution which it could make in support of the additional military effort, with a view to helping to bring the hostilities in Indo-Chlna to a satisfactory conclusion within the foreseeable future. In consequence of this consideration and in light of the request of the French Government and of the understandings set forth in our exchange of letters under reference, as well as in the following paragraphs of this letter, the United States Government will make available, prior to December 31, 1954, additional financial resources not to exceed $385 million, or its equivalent in French francs, in support of the additional military effort of the French Union in Indo-China, His Excellency Monsieur Georges Bidault, Minister for Foreign Affairs, Paris,

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