The Cabinet Mission to India was consisted of the Secretary of state Pethick Lawrence, Sir Stafford Cripps, and the President of the Board of Trade and A.V. Alexander, First lord of the Admiralty.
They arrived on 24th of March and held extensive discussions during April with virtually all major leaders of the country.
The Cabinet Mission was to seek an agreement, on the constitutional issue with the Indian political leaders. In the election of 1945-46 Muslim League had own most of the Muslim seats in the Central Assembly and the Provincial Legislatures.
The Congress owns the general seats. Only in the North-West Frontier Province the pro-Congress elements led by Khan Abdul Gaffar Khan won majority of the Muslim seats. The Congress formed Ministry in all Provinces except Bengal and Sind. In the Punjab a coalition Ministry was formed by the Congress, the Akali Sikhs and Unionist Hindus and Muslims. The political situation thus in India remained complicated. The Cabinet Mission failed to reach an agreed settlement on the Constitutional issue.
The League and Jinnah however stood firm in its demand for Pakistan while the Congress vigorously opposed the two nation theory. Jinnah even opposed the formation of Pakistan consisting of the areas demanded by him earlier if it was to be a separate federation of the Indian Union. In the absence of any unanimous solution the Cabinet Mission announced its own recommendation on 16th May 1946.
The main provisions of the recommendation were:
(1) The whole of India including the Princely States should form a Federation.
(2) The Central Government should be in charge of foreign affairs, defence and communication.