Engaging with Asia : the Chifley government and the New Delhi conferences of 1947 and 1949

This article is a study of the Chifley government\u27s foreign policy towards Asia, in particular India and Indonesia, as evidenced by Australia\u27s attendance at the 1947 Asian Relations Conference and the 1949 New Delhi Conference on the Indonesian-Dutch conflict. Australia\u27s presence at these two conferences provides an ideal opportunity to examine the Chifley government\u27s response to the momentous changes that occurred in post-war Asia as a result of the dismantling of the European colonial world order. Through detailed examination of the archival material and contemporary accounts generated from Australia\u27s involvement in the New Delhi conferences, this article will argue that despite significant political constraints, the Chifley government did adopt a distinctive and innovative policy towards the emergent nations of Asia in the immediate post-war years