In conversation with us today, the United Kingdom High
Commissioner (Sir Archibald [Nye] [1]) referred to the Asian
Conference, the usefulness of the Australian contribution to which
he concedes. He described the conference both as a challenge and
an opportunity, his personal view being that while the broad
implications of it are at first sight opposed to the Colonial
interests of Western European countries, those same countries may
discover that the Asian bloc or blocs emerging from it, will
provide protection against Soviet expansion. He also thinks the
machinery for consultations, such as that proposed by Bajpai, may
operate as a brake against extremism on the part of individual
Asian countries. Again expressing his personal opinion, he thought
Australian participation in this field is all to the good, adding
that this makes for a sensible treatment of the issues. He
concluded that South East Asia could no longer be disregarded by
policy makers. The tendency of the Foreign Office had been to
stand on one foot, and to concentrate on other areas, especially
Europe. He feels they must henceforth stand on two feet and
achieve a balance by taking Asia fully into their calculations.

2. [Nye] remarked in passing that Foreign diplomatists in Delhi
had at first treated the Asian Conference lightly, but as things
progressed, had come to realise its significance.

3. We mentioned the situation of Burma. He regards that country as
having been in a parlous state financially and politically for the
past six months, with Burma treating the situation in a
characteristically light-hearted manner. He sees no active Russian
influence behind the Karen revolt. [2] He believes the arms and
supplies they are using come from Allied dumps left there after
the war.