Office of the Historian

125. Telegram From the Department of State to the Mission at the United Nations1

Washington, December 10, 1955—2:05 p.m.

418. In view our policy neutrality West New Guinea, USDel should not cosponsor resolution (Delga 442 Dec. 92). If assured both Dutch and Indonesians in agreement on Menon’s text and will vote for it USDel should do likewise. You should inform Indonesian and Netherlands delegations that our approval does not involve any interpretation of the resolution and that we are voting for it because both parties are doing so.3

Dulles
  1. Source: Department of State, Central Files, 656.65D13/12–955. Confidential; Priority. Drafted in UNP; approved in IO; cleared with FE,PSA, and WE. Repeated to The Hague and Djakarta.↩
  2. Delga 442 from New York, December 9, reported that the Netherlands and Indonesian Delegations had agreed to a draft resolution, suggested by Indian Representative V.K. Krishna Menon, and that both sides might ask the United States to cosponsor it. The draft resolution referred to the agenda item entitled “The question of West Irian (West New Guinea)”, expressed the hope that the problem would be peacefully resolved, noted the Netherlands-Indonesian joint statement of December 7, and expressed the hope that the negotiations referred to therein would be “happy and fruitful.” (Ibid., 656.56D13/12–955)↩
  3. A draft resolution virtually identical to the Menon draft, except that it expressed the hope that the negotiations would be “fruitful”, was submitted on December 12 by Ecuador, India, New Zealand, Norway, and Syria, approved without objection by the First Committee on that date, and adopted without objection on December 16 by the General Assembly as Resolution 915 (X); for further information, see U.N. docs. A/3093 and A/PV.559.↩