Negotiations between Pakistan and Sultan of Muscat about Gwadur oil rights

This file relates to negotiations between Pakistan and the Sultan of Muscat and Oman Saeed Bin Taimur over oil rights in Gwadur [Gwadar]. It contains correspondence concerning:

• British views on possible methods of agreement (1)
• Pakistan's willingness to reach a settlement with the Sultan, excluding any third party from the lease (2)
• Pakistani Prime Minister Chaudhry Mohammad Ali's reaction to Political Resident in the Persian Gulf B A B Burrows's conversation with the Sultan (3)
• Meeting at the Commonwealth Relations Office (4)
• Mohammad Ali's meeting with the UK High Commissioner in Pakistan. The Prime Minister revealed public resentment at the lack of Anglo-American support over Kashmir and Afghanistan and expressed willingness to make a percentage offer to the Sultan. It also discusses the complications arising from reports that Wendell Phillips has obtained an oil concession for Gwadar (5-6, 9)
• The Sultan's assertion that Wendell Phillips's concession has lapsed (7)
• The Sultan's willingness to proceed with the lease agreement, subject to a percentage payment for any oil discovered (8)
• Mohammad Ali's opposition to a percentage payment because the boundaries of Gwadar had never been clearly defined (10)
• Question of the legal redress the Sultan of Muscat would have if no payment should be made under any agreement for extra compensation in the event of the discovery of oil (11)
• The Sultan's opposition to Pakistan's threat of a customs' cordon (12)
• Pakistani High Commissioner to the UK Mohammad Ikramullah's attempts to convince his Prime Minister to agree to a percentage payment (13-14)
• Irrelevance of France (15)
• Senior Naval Officer in the Persian Gulf's report on Gwadar during the visit by HMS Flamingo, which includes a comprehensive description of the port (16)
• UK High Commissioner's discussions with Mohammad Ali on the question of Gwadar's boundaries and the progress of negotiations with the Sultan (17)
• Brief for the Foreign Secretary's visit to Karachi in March 1956 (18)
• Request for a record of the conversation between Ikramullah and the Commonwealth Relations Office (19)
• Pakistan's latest offers and consideration of the boundary issue. It contains a rough sketch of Gwadar's boundaries hand-drawn by Ikramullah (20-21, 23-24)
• Slavery in Gwadar and its implications for the negotiations. It contains a letter from the Anti-Slavery Society (22)
• Terms the Sultan is likely to accept (25)
• Investigation into Gwadar's exact boundaries (26, 28)
• HMG's views on the alternative offers proposed by Pakistan (27)
• The Sultan's threat to call off the oil negotiations if Pakistan raises the boundary issue (29)