189

Critchley to Department of External Affairs

Cablegram K137 BATAVIA, 22 June 1948, 6.03 p.m.

SECRET

The Committee has telegraphed to the Security Council Chapter I of the introduction to our third Interim Report. [1]

2. The Dutch have indicated that they will formally advise the Committee to-day that they are prepared to resume talks. The Committee will then finalize its reply to the Security Council’s telegram requesting the cause and duration of the delay. [2] I have not been able to obtain the inclusion of details of Australian-American plan [3] but both our reply and Chapter I of the report should contain enough to help discussion of the plan and circumstances in which it was presented and facilitate a request that the plan be produced in Council. Copies of the plan are available in Committee records in New York.

3. Otherwise my present strategy is to ask for a meeting in this connection of Committee as soon as the Dutch are prepared to resume talks. The Republicans will then ask for consideration of the plan and will, I hope, be supported by a majority of the Committee. This would probably cause a further break and force the plan to the attention of the Security Council.

4. The Dutch will undoubtedly continue to delay resumption of formal talks as long as possible.

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1 Chapter I of the Third Interim Report of the Committee of Good Offices (See note 5 to Document 184) discussed problems in the ‘current period’ between the signing of the Renville Agreement and the signing of a political agreement. It referred to the disagreement between the Netherlands and Republican Delegations over the Renville Principles and the failure to restore a common economic, social and political life in the islands affected by the Indonesian dispute.

2 See Document 187.

3 Document 173.

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[AA:A1838, 403/3/1/1, xvii]