ABSTRACT
The new Ambassador reached the United States at the end of April as the successor to Sir Benegal Rama Rau, who had been appointed to Washington on June 18, 1948, but had left to become Governor of the Reserve Bank of India. If India is counting on its new Ambassador to the United States to make friends and influence people, it is not likely to be disappointed. Completely without pose, affectation, or feminine mannerisms, she handled questions with what appeared to be perfect frankness, but was quick to detect and parry the “loaded” ones. Since Vijaya Lakshmi's Ambassadorship ended in 1951, just when India's First Five-Year Plan for economic development was initially laid down, she had to negotiate the Agreement before India's desire to stand economically on her own feet became evident to the world through the Plan's publication.
