--- title: "Cabinet Mission Plan 1946: Grouping Scheme | Model Diplomat" description: "The Cabinet Mission Plan of 1946 proposed a federal union for India, influencing Congress and the Muslim League's political strategies." url: "https://modeldiplomat.com/learn/glossary/cabinet-mission-plan-1946" --- [New](https://modeldiplomat.com/) # Model Diplomat Research Team · Last reviewed June 22, 2026 TL;DR - The Cabinet Mission Plan of 1946 was a British proposal for a federal union of provinces and princely states with limited central powers, rejecting Pakistan's partition while permitting provincial grouping. - Why did the Cabinet Mission Plan reject the demand for Pakistan? - What was the dispute over grouping that wrecked the Plan? - How does the Cabinet Mission Plan relate to the Constituent Assembly of India? - How did the Cabinet Mission Plan differ from the Mountbatten Plan of 1947? [Civil Service & Diplomatic Exams](https://modeldiplomat.com/learn/civil-services/glossary)Updated June 22, 2026 The Cabinet Mission Plan of 1946 was a British proposal for a federal union of provinces and princely states with limited central powers, rejecting Pakistan's partition while permitting provincial grouping. Go beyond the definition ## Research Cabinet Mission Plan of 1946 like a delegate Model Diplomat's AI drafts position papers, speeches, and country research with real sources — built for MUN and politics students. ## Timeline 1. 24 March 1946 Alexander—who arrived in New Delhi on . 2. 16 May 1946 After the failure of the tripartite Simla Conference in May 1946, the Mission issued its own statement of , which constitutes the Plan proper. 3. 2 September 1946 After protracted negotiation, an interim government headed by Jawaharlal Nehru was sworn in on ; the Muslim League, having initially accepted the Plan on 6 J… 4. 6 June 1946 After protracted negotiation, an interim government headed by Jawaharlal Nehru was sworn in on 2 September 1946; the Muslim League, having initially accepted… 5. 29 July 1946 After protracted negotiation, an interim government headed by Jawaharlal Nehru was sworn in on 2 September 1946; the Muslim League, having initially accepted… 6. 10 July 1946 The Congress, in a resolution and in Nehru's celebrated Bombay press conference of , held that grouping was optional and that a province could decline to ent… 7. 16 August 1946 Jinnah, treating the Congress stance as repudiation, withdrew acceptance and on called Direct Action Day, which precipitated the Great Calcutta Killings. 8. 3 June 1947 It differed fundamentally from the Mountbatten Plan (the Plan) and the resulting Indian Independence Act 1947, which abandoned the single-union framework en… ## Positions at a glance ### Indian National Congress The Cabinet Mission Plan of 1946 originated in a deliberate British decision, announced by Prime Minister Clement Attlee in February 1946, to transfer power to Indian hands and resolve the constitutional deadlock between the Indian National Congress and the All-India Muslim League. Attlee dispatched a three-member mission of senior cabinet ministers—Secretary of State for India Lord Pethick-Lawrence, President of the Board of Trade Sir Stafford Cripps, and First Lord of the Admiralty A.V. Alexander—who arrived in New Delhi on 24 March 1946. Their mandate, working alongside Viceroy Lord Wavell, was to devise machinery for framing an Indian constitution and to form an interim government, all without conceding the Muslim League's demand for a sovereign Pakistan. After the failure of the tripartite Simla Conference in May 1946, the Mission issued its own statement of 16 May 1946, which constitutes the Plan proper. ### All-India Muslim League The Cabinet Mission Plan of 1946 originated in a deliberate British decision, announced by Prime Minister Clement Attlee in February 1946, to transfer power to Indian hands and resolve the constitutional deadlock between the Indian National Congress and the All-India Muslim League. Attlee dispatched a three-member mission of senior cabinet ministers—Secretary of State for India Lord Pethick-Lawrence, President of the Board of Trade Sir Stafford Cripps, and First Lord of the Admiralty A.V. Alexander—who arrived in New Delhi on 24 March 1946. Their mandate, working alongside Viceroy Lord Wavell, was to devise machinery for framing an Indian constitution and to form an interim government, all without conceding the Muslim League's demand for a sovereign Pakistan. After the failure of the tripartite Simla Conference in May 1946, the Mission issued its own statement of 16 May 1946, which constitutes the Plan proper. ## Research it like a delegate Research on modeldiplomat.com ## Ask a follow-up about Cabinet Mission Plan of 1946 Open a cited briefing in Model Diplomat search — timelines, positions, and sources you can use in committee or exam answers. [Start research on Cabinet Mission Plan of 1946](https://modeldiplomat.com/search?q=Explain%20Cabinet%20Mission%20Plan%20of%201946%20%E2%80%94%20key%20dates%2C%20actors%2C%20positions%2C%20and%20sources) Example In his Bombay press conference of 10 July 1946, Jawaharlal Nehru declared that the Congress had agreed only to enter the Constituent Assembly and was unbound by the Cabinet Mission Plan's grouping scheme, prompting Jinnah to withdraw the League's acceptance. Keep learning ## Go deeper than the definition [Explore all Civil Service & Diplomatic Exams lessons](https://modeldiplomat.com/learn/civil-services)[Test yourself with a quiz](https://modeldiplomat.com/learn/glossary/quiz/civil-services) ## Take Cabinet Mission Plan of 1946 beyond the glossary Ask the AI research engine built for diplomacy — get briefings, position papers, and speeches with sources you can cite in committee.