The following is a report of an interview yesterday with Bajpai
following the receipt of the aide-memoire mentioned in my telegram
No. 94. [1]

1. Bajpai claimed that the meeting [2] on January 24th was held
entirely on Nehru's initiative and that there had been no pressure
for it from outside. Asked again who attended he said 'Practically
all' of the representatives still in Delhi on that date attended.

2. Asked why our copy of the aide-memoire mentioned only
Australia, Burma, Ceylon, China, New Zealand, Philippines and Siam
notwithstanding that his Ministry stated a similar document went
to other countries represented at the Asian conference, he
indicated that he felt that Australia and China would not wish to
be associated in the same document with the Arabic countries. [3]

3. He understands the Australian view to be that a regional
organization should not stretch in an unwieldy fashion from the
Philippines right across to Egypt. But India, he said, is in a
peculiar position having a direct interest both to the West and
the East herself. Provision for Australian conception [of] limited
regionalism was contained in the aide-memoire (see paragraph 5 (1)
[4] of our telegram No. 94). Bajpai appears to envisage two
regional groupings probably with India as the focus of each. He
was rather more confident and yet in some respects rather less
frank than usual. An American journalist (Harold Isaacs) had
charged him over the table with creating an Asian bloc to which he
said he had replied 'So what'.

4. Bajpai skated around a published report by Isaacs that [Rom]ulo
had returned [to] [5] Manila with a project for a Philippines-
sponsored south east Asian conference at a later date. When
prepared, he claimed that there was nothing in it suggesting the
Philippines foreign policy is under the United States influence
anyway.

5. Qualifying the remark by saying he had not yet received the
final accounts from Lake Success, Bajpai said that the Security
Council resolution [6] fell short in certain respects including no
lifting of the Dutch economic blockade. He intends to circularise
the Government of India's views to countries represented at the
Asian conference after which he envisages a meeting of their
diplomatic representatives here in Delhi. We asked whether India
would then make any proposals for further action. This he denied
and spoke about an exchange of views. He hinted at the possibility
of an eventual reference to the General Assembly.

6. Bajpai said that Maramis, now acting as a sort of de facto
Indonesian Foreign Minister abroad, has been permitted the use of
Indian code channels to New York. Maramis, he added, has informed
the Indonesian representative [7] at Lake Success not to favour or
reject the Security Council resolution but for the present to
leave the onus on the Dutch of complying with it as far as it
goes.