856E.00/7–947
Memorandum of Conversation, by the Assistant Chief of the Division of Southeast Asian Affairs (Landon)
The Indian Ambassador, Mr. Asaf Ali, called on the Under Secretary to express the concern of his Government for the deteriorating situation in Indonesia stating that the Dutch were moving a fresh division of troops into Java; that this appeared to his Government as a deliberate act of aggression by a European power to force an agreement on an Asiatic people; that such an act of aggression would have a very bad effect among all Asiatic peoples and particularly in India which had intimate relations with the peoples of Indonesia from whom they received important rice shipments; that Article 17 of the Lingga Djati Agreement provided for arbitration of points of disagreement; and that it was hoped by his Government that the United States would remind the Dutch of this fact and indeed would use its good offices in an attempt to bring about a peaceful solution.39
It was pointed out to Mr. Ali that our most recent information seemed to indicate that the Indonesian and Dutch positions were almost reconciled if not entirely so; that there was less danger than before of an attempt to settle the issue by force; and that therefore it was hoped that our information was more recent than the information of the Indian Ambassador. Mr. Ali was informed that the information which he had given us would be passed on to the Secretary of State.
- Telegram 509, July 9, 1 p.m., from New Delhi, reported a similar move the previous night when it was explained that the Governments of the United Kingdom and the United States might take this line (856E.01/7–947). The gist of telegram 265, July 9, 3 p.m., infra, was reported in 389, July 10, 7 p.m., to New Delhi and orally to the Indian Ambassador on July 11. (856E.01/7–947, 856E.00/7–1147)↩