Kuala Lumpur, 6 January 1965
19. Unclassified
My 18.1
Following is text of statement by Tunku Abdul Rahman after an emergency meeting of the Cabinet on January 4th:
‘The withdrawal from the United Nations by Indonesia follows a series of actions by that country in defiance of world opinion, rule of law and the United Nations.2
The existence of small independent sovereign nations, like Malaysia, is being threatened by the aggressive, bullying and expansionist tactics of our neighbour.
[In] the light of this serious development, the Cabinet held an emergency meeting and decided that immediate action should be taken:—
(a) to ask our allies under the defence agreement to review the latest position and send reinforcements, if necessary;
(b) to inform the United Nations of the seriousness of the threat of more intensive Indonesian attacks and to request the United Nations to assist us in the defence of our nation in the event of such a happening;
(c) to expedite the expansion of our own forces by establishing more training centres throughout the States of Malaysia for the call-up under National Service; and
(d) to be prepared to take retaliatory action under the rule of hot pursuit when and if forced to do so for our own existence.’
[NAA: A1838, 3027/9/1 part 5]
1 6 January. It reported the Malaysian Cabinet’s proposed action as listed in this cablegram. It also contained a press report that Cabinet would decide that day what UN assistance or action Malaysia would seek in the event of more intensive Indonesian attacks.
2 On 1 January, Sukarno had announced in a speech in Jakarta that Indonesia would withdraw from the UN if Malaysia took its seat in the Security Council.