Cablegram 517 NEW DELHI, 30 December 1948, 10.05 p.m.
MOST IMPORTANT
My telegram No. 516. Following is text.
We are grateful for the friendly response of (blank blank) Government to our suggestions regarding support for the Indonesian cause. Under the Charter of United Nations the Security Council’s rules of procedure, only members of the Council or members of the Government which may have brought the dispute before the Council are entitled to be heard by the Council. We feel that a communication to the Council in identical terms by the Asian members of United Nations in sympathy with the Indonesian struggle for freedom will have powerful effect on the Council and also on international opinion. We suggest the following: The sudden Dutch attack on the Indonesian Republic Forces and Republic Territory has come as a grave shock to all liberty loving people in Asia. It is an act of aggression against a people struggling for their freedom, it is a challenge to the authority of the United Nations whose Committee of Good Offices working for a peaceful settlement has been ignored. The orders of the Security Council for an immediate cease-fire and a release of Republic leaders have not been complied with by the Dutch Government. Even if they were complied with they would not by themselves create conditions necessary for free negotiations. What is essential is not only that the wishes of the Security Council regarding a cease-fire and release of Indonesian leaders should immediately be carried but also that the Indonesian people should be made to feel that the United Nations have done justice by requiring the Dutch to withdraw to the positions which they held when the present military operations began and by ensuring that this unprovoked resort to force will be fully investigated and responsibility for it clearly laid on those on whom that responsibility rests. The Government of (blank) earnestly urges the Security Council to take immediate steps to secure fulfilment of these two conditions. Only thus can the authority of the United Nations be vindicated and the way prepared for an honourable and amicable settlement in Indonesia. Alternative is a long and fierce struggle between disciplined armed might and an alien power seeking to impose its will on a people determined to secure their independence and Indonesian patriots unequal perhaps to their opponents in armament and organised military prowess but inspired by an unconquerable will to freedom which must ultimately prevail. The threat of such a prolonged conflict in South East Asia to world peace is too patent to need elaboration.
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[AA : A1838, 854/10/4/3, ii]