Cablegram 390 BATAVIA, 1 November 1947, 6 p.m.
MOST IMMEDIATE SECRET
The main points of the first official meeting with the Dutch yesterday are (A) The Netherlands ‘provisional’ delegation of five [1] was headed by Abdulkadir and included only two Dutch. In answer to a direct question Abdulkadir admitted all delegates represented the Netherlands Government.
(B) The delegation who had [been] given summary record of the meeting with the Republicans [2] 24 hours before today’s meeting gave the following order of preference for location of the Committee meetings: (1) Batavia; (2) East Indonesia; (3) Batavia and Djokjakarta in turn. In the event of failure of agreement on these they have asked the Committee to make suggestions.
(C) The Netherlands propose to raise in writing suggestions for establishing a more ‘and even atmosphere’ for discussions.
(D) In answer to a direct question Abdulkadir said summary record of meetings with the Republic was understood and that the delegation had no further points to raise.
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1 In announcing on 31 October the establishment of a ‘provisional’ committee to act on behalf of the Netherlands Government, Van Mook stated that the committee would ‘function by way of contact’ and that pending the commencement of substantive negotiations, there was no reason to appoint a formal Netherlands delegation.
2 See Document 396.
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[AA:A1838/274, 854/10/4/2, i]