Nixon White House Tapes › Tape 664 › Conversation 664-016

United States Secret Service agents on India and Foreign Policy

Wednesday, February 2, 1972 · 10:05 AM–12:16 PM ET · Oval Office

ParticipantsUnited States Secret Service agentsConversation664-016 on Tape 664 (tape position 01:08:56–01:09:58)StartWednesday, February 2, 1972 at 10:05 AMEndWednesday, February 2, 1972 at 12:16 PMRecording deviceOval OfficeSourceNixon Library record for 664-016 ↗

AI Summary

President Nixon articulates his foreign policy perspective on India to a group of Secret Service agents, framing the nation as a critical democratic experiment that must succeed in competition with communist China. Despite acknowledging a lack of formal alliances or treaties, Nixon emphasizes his historical commitment to respecting India's non-alignment and providing aid without political conditions. He characterizes his diplomatic stance as a strategic effort to prevent regional instability rather than a sign of preferential favoritism toward the Indian government.

Audio

Download MP3 (part 1) · 169.3 MB ·Download MP3 (part 2) · 41.4 MB

This conversation has not yet been cut into its own clip, so the player above contains the full tape segment shared with neighbouring conversations. It begins about 01:08:56 into the tape and ends around 01:09:58.

Transcript (AI-generated)

This transcript was generated automatically by AI (WhisperX) and has not been reviewed for accuracy. Names and numbers are often wrong; speakers are not identified. Do not cite it as authoritative — verify against the audio and the finding aid.

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1:08:57I have taken the line that India is the largest free world country, must have an opportunity.
1:09:01to prove that it can compete with China in the largest totalitarian country.
1:09:06And that the United States is a great state and India is an experiment in democracy.
1:09:12This is my view.
1:09:13It hasn't been my view in the past.
1:09:15It's my view at the present time.
1:09:17This is despite the fact we have no treaty with India.
1:09:20We have no alliance with India.
1:09:22We respect their non-alignment.
1:09:24When India's kicked us around the United Nations in Russia, I defended them in Q&A during the campaign in 1968 and said, we respect the right of countries to disagree and that our aid goes without strings.
1:09:35I take that speech more on than anybody else.
1:09:37Now, having said all that,
1:09:40I mean, it comes with the old race, where, and it's not the Indians to say that Nixon is out just for them.
1:09:49Hell, we're not out for them.
1:09:50I'm just trying to, basically, what we're really trying to do is to keep the Indians, what we did at the end of the day, from God and from the neighbor.

NARA Description

On February 2, 1972, United States Secret Service agents met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 10:05 am and 12:16 pm. The Oval Office taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 664-016 of the White House Tapes.

Nixon Library Finding Aid

Conversation No. 664-16

Date: February 2, 1972
Time: Unknown between 10:05 am and 12:16 pm
Location: Oval Office

Unknown people [Secret Service agents] met.

     The President’s location
          -Cabinet Room

The agents left at an unknown time before 12:16 pm.

Also recorded on February 2, 1972

  • 020-017 9:10 AM · 58 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Charles S. Gubser talked on the telephone from 9:10 am to 9:13 am.
  • 020-018 9:13 AM · 9 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 9:13 am and 9:14 am.
  • 664-003 9:13 AM · 34 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 9:13 am and 9:14 am.
  • 664-004 9:13 AM · 33 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Stephen B. Bull met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 9:13 am and 9:14 am.
  • 020-019 9:14 AM · 47 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Thomas N. Downing talked on the telephone from 9:14 am to 9:15 am.
  • 664-005 9:14 AM · 46 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Thomas N. Downing met in the Oval Office of the White House from 9:14 am to 9:15 am.
  • 664-006 9:15 AM · 49 min — President Richard M. Nixon, H. R. ("Bob") Haldeman, Ronald L. Ziegler, Henry A. Kissinger, and unknown person(s) met in the Oval Office of the White House from 9:15 am to 10:05 am.
  • 089-001 10:05 AM · 2 hr 12 min — President Richard M. Nixon and members of the National Security Council, including Vice President Spiro T. Agnew, William P. Rogers, Melvin R. Laird, Gen. George A. Lincoln, John B. Connally, John N. Mitchell, Richard M. Helms, Adm. Thomas H. Moorer, Ellsworth F. Bunker, Henry A. Kissinger, Gen. Alexander M. Haig, Jr., and Ronald L. Ziegler, met in the Cabinet Room of the White House from 10:05 am to 12:16 pm.

All 71 conversations from February 2, 1972 →

Cite this conversation

Conversation 664-016, February 2, 1972. White House Tapes, Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, National Archives. Audio and AI transcript via Easy Nixon, https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/664-016 (accessed September 30, 2026).