Foreign Relations of the United States, 1969–1976, Volume E–12, Documents on East and Southeast Asia, 1973–1976

134. Memorandum From the President’s Assistant for National Security Affairs (Kissinger) to the Chairman of the Under Secretaries Committee (Ingersoll), Washington, September 15, 1975.¹ ²

Washington, September 15, 1975

THE WHITE HOUSE
WASHINGTON

September 15, 1975

MEMORANDUM FOR
THE CHAIRMAN, UNDER SECRETARIES COMMITTEE

SUBJECT: U.S.-Indonesian Joint Consultative Group

The President has directed the Under Secretaries Committee to prepare a position paper on the organization of U.S. -Indonesian joint consultations on economic and military matters.

The Under Secretaries Committee, in its examination of various alternatives for such organization, need not assume that the group to be formed should necessarily be modeled on other existing bilateral commissions nor that it should necessarily be a permanent organization.

The organizational structure(s) proposed should be shaped so as to:

• — Make a meaningful contribution to U.S.-Indonesian cooperation,
• — Take into account Indonesia’s non-aligned image.
• — Avoid conflict with the work of the Indonesian Aid Consortium (IGGI).
• — Avoid Indonesian overexpectation.

For the purposes of this study, representatives of the Agency for International Development, as well as the Departments of Defense, State, and Treasury, should be represented on the working group under the Under Secretaries Committee. The study should set out various options with appropriate recommendations for consideration by the President. It should be submitted no later than October 6, 1975.

[signed]
Henry A. Kissinger

1. Source: Ford Library, NSC Institutional Files (H-Files), Box H–72, NSC, U/SM–158, U.S. Indonesian Joint Consultative Group. Confidential. On October 15, Wreatham E. Gathright, the Staff Director of the Under Secretaries Committee, forwarded to the President the requested paper from Ingersoll, October 14, in which the Under Secretaries Committee recommended option 1; a joint consultative commission co-chaired by the Secretary of State and an Indonesian official, and including other relevant officials for a renewable two-year term.
2. Kissinger asked the National Security Council Under Secretaries Committee to prepare a position paper on the organization of U.S.-Indonesian joint consultations.