In this photograph, Jawaharlal Nehru and Muhammed Ali Jinnah are seen walking in the grounds of the Viceroy’s lodge in Shimla, India, on 11 May 1946. Nehru, president of the Indian National Congress, and Jinnah, leader of the All-India Muslim League, were at the summer residence of the Viceroy Lord Wavell to meet with British officials from the Cabinet Mission. 

What was the Cabinet Mission?
Formed by Prime Minister Clement Attlee, the Cabinet Mission travelled to India in March 1946 to discuss the transfer of power from the British government to Indian political leadership. The Mission members included the Secretary of State for India and Burma Lord Frederick Pethick-Lawrence, President of the Board of Trade Sir Stafford Cripps and First Lord of the Admiralty Albert Victor Alexander. Five days after this photograph of Nehru and Jinnah was taken, the Cabinet Mission proposed a plan for a united India. However, distrust between Congress and the Muslim League led to negotiations breaking down, and no agreement was reached. 

About the Joyce collection

This album contains images of the Cabinet Mission’s visit to India between March and June 1946. The album includes images of British officials meeting Indian political leaders such as Mahatma Gandhi, Jawaharlal Nehru and Muhammed Ali Jinnah in New Delhi and Shimla. Alec Houghton Joyce was a civil servant who took part in the Cabinet Mission. He donated this album to the India Office Library after he retired in 1958.