243. Editorial Note
On March 2, 1962, Secretary of State Rusk met with Foreign Minister Luns at the Department of State from 10:58 a.m. to 12:35 p.m. Rusk was accompanied by Harriman, Tyler, and Bell; Luns by van Roijen, Schiff, and Huydecoper. During the discussion, Rusk stressed the West New Guinea issue within the context of U.S. international relations. Luns complained about continued delivery of U.S. arms to Indonesia and worried about the military threat to the 18,000 Dutch there. An account of the discussion was transmitted to The Hague in telegram 739, March 2. (Department of State, Central Files, 656.9813/3–262)
Luns also met with Harriman to discuss a report that he had just received from The Hague that the Indonesian Ambassador in Bonn had been authorized to discuss the West New Guinea problem with Luns. Luns was confused about Sukarno’s intentions and hoped he was not backing away from having a third party present in secret talks. Harriman remarked that it was the U.S. understanding that while Sukarno preferred bilateral secret talks, he was willing to hold discussions in the presence of a third party. (Memorandum of conversation, March 2; ibid.)
At 4:45 p.m., Luns went to the White House to meet with President Kennedy; see Document 244.