§ Q4. Mr. F. M. Bennettasked the Prime Minister by what methods he intends to ensure that the proposed long-term 234 military aid to India will be deployed wholly for defence of the sub-continent against external aggression.
§ The Prime MinisterAs I stated in reply to the right hon. Member for Dundee, West (Mr. Strachey) on 2nd May, no decisions about long-term military aid to India have yet been taken. Conditions governing the provision of arms and military equipment to India were set out in an exchange of letters of 27th November, 1962, between the British and Indian Governments. The texts were circulated in the OFFICIAL. REPORT of 29th November.
§ Mr. BennettI fully appreciate the care with which the Government have approached this problem. Does the Prime Minister fully realise the real extent and depth of the disquiet and apprehension felt in Pakistan at the moment about how this aid might be used in the future, more particularly as even at the height of the Indo-Chinese conflict last year no less than four-fifths of the whale Indian Army was deployed against Pakistan and not against China?
§ The Prime MinisterI am aware of the views both of the Government of Pakistan and of the Government of India. What my right hon. Friend is trying to do— I am sure that it is right to try to do it—is to see whether we can in any way facilitate a solution of the many problems which divide the two Governments, for it is a very unhappy thing for the subcontinent that they should be divided when there this external threat.
§ Mr. HealeyDoes not the Prime Minister agree that both Britain and the Commonwealth as a whole will gain far more if this country supplies India with the aircraft she so desperately needs to protect her country against Chinese Communist aggresson than if Britain continues to act as the arsenal of apartheid in South Africa?
§ The Prime MinisterAs regards India, the long-term agreement is now being discussed. I looked into the point raised by the Leader of the Opposition. Spare parts for the Indian Air Force are one of the emergency items we agreed to supply under the technical agreement of last November. The backlog is very great and there are some difficulties, sometimes of production and sometimes of supply.
235 However, these are being overcome and agreement has been reached on a large spares programme, the delivery of which is already in progress.
§ Mr. StracheyWould not the Prime Minister agree that, if he continues to link the question of an agreement between India and Pakistan, which we all desire, with the settlement of long-term military aid to India, the probable result will be to leave India helpless and not to secure an agreement with Pakistan?
§ The Prime MinisterNo. I do not think that is the right phrase and I am sorry that the right hon. Gentleman has used it. We are not linking it. We shall make the long-term agreement shortly, as soon as all the work is completed. What we have done is to express the view that we should be sorry to see an appreciable part of the Indian Army deployed not for defence against China but against Pakistan. This is not the same thing as linking one witih the other. We shall go ahead with our plans, but we shall also try to do our duty—I think it is our duty—to see if we can in any way be of assistance in solving this problem.