<P> However, the United States, as Britain's principal ally saw things in even more urgent terms . The chief American strategic objective was aiding Chiang Kai Shek's physically isolated Nationalist China against the expanding Japanese Empire . The Japanese conquest of China's coastal areas meant they needed India to serve as a major logistical hub to funnel US aid to China, and needed Indian military manpower to secure routes for supplies through Burma . American as well as Chinese leadership was convinced that this would not be possible without the full support of a mobilised Indian population, requiring a breakthrough with the Indian National Congress . In addition the Roosevelt administration which was busy formulating its vision for the post-war world order saw the decolonisation of Asia as a matter of US national interest for both ideological as well as commercial reasons . </P> <P> Despite these conflicts of interests, Britain's reliance on the United States for Lend - Lease supplies for the war effort meant that President Franklin Delano Roosevelt's pressure had to at least appear to be taken seriously, especially in light of the military disasters in South East Asia . As a result, the British cabinet by the 9th of March agreed to despatch a mission to India to discuss its offer, and Cripps' plane landed in Delhi on 22 March 1942 . By that time the British were willing to grant Indian independence at the conclusion of the war . Incidentally the next day was the second anniversary of the Lahore Resolution of 1940, so Cripps saw Muslims marching in the streets with green flags . Sir Cripps stated that while he had been closer to the Congress he was open to other perspectives . Jinnah waited to find out the proposals and stated that the League would reject them if they were not in the interests of Muslims . </P> <P> The Congress was divided upon its response to India's entry into World War II . Angry over the decision made by the Viceroy, some Congress leaders favoured launching a revolt against the British despite the gravity of the war in Europe, which threatened Britain's own freedom . Others, such as Chakravarti Rajagopalachari, advocated offering an olive branch to the British, supporting them in this crucial time in the hope that the gesture would be reciprocated with independence after the war . The major leader, Mohandas Gandhi, was opposed to Indian involvement in the war as he would not morally endorse a war and also suspected British intentions, believing that the British were not sincere about Indian aspirations for independence . But Rajagopalachari, backed by Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, Maulana Azad and Jawaharlal Nehru held talks with Cripps and offered full support in return for immediate self - government, and eventual independence . </P> <P> The British anxiously tried to gain Muslim support during the war and for this purpose they included a clause that no province would be compelled to join the post war India . Jinnah, the leader of the Muslim League, supported the war effort and condemned the Congress policy . Insisting on a Pakistan, a separate Muslim state, he resisted Congress's calls for pan-Indian cooperation and immediate independence . </P>

Which point in the cripps offer was against the unity of the nation