MALAYSIA (MILITARY AND ECONOMIC AID) (Hansard, 23 February 1965)

§ Q3. Viscount Lambton
asked the Prime Minister whether he will give an assurance to the Government of the Federation of Malaysia that in the event of that country being invaded by armed forces the British Government will give both military and economic aid independent of the actions of the United Nations.

§ The Prime Minister
Under the Anglo-Malaysian Defence Agreement we have undertaken to afford Malaysia such assistance as she may require for the external defence of her territory. This undertaking is currently being honoured. No further assurance is called for.

§ Viscount Lambton
Will the Prime Minister say whether his statement "such weapons as she may require" includes all weapons under the command of the British Government?

§ The Prime Minister
The phrase which I used was, "such assistance as she may require". We are giving Malaysia all the assistance she has called for and requires in present circumstances.

§ Viscount Lambton
The right hon. Gentleman did not understand the trend of my supplementary question. Are we prepared to commit all weapons under British command to the defence of Malaysia?

§ The Prime Minister
Whether I understood the trend of the supplementary question or not, I answered it as it was put. I cannot at this stage discuss hypothetical circumstances. We shall give Malaysia whatever help is necessary to preserve her territorial integrity against aggression.

§ Mr. Sydney Silverman
Can my right hon. Friend say whether any progress has been made, or whether any progress which he can report has been made, in the attempt to mediate in this issue?

§ The Prime Minister
As I indicated last week, a lot of discussions are going on and it might not be helpful to go into too much detail about them at this time. The word "mediate" might easily be misunderstood. As I said last week, there is no question, as far as I can understand, of asking Malaysia to do anything. Malaysia has not been committing aggression. This is a straight question of infiltration into Malaysian territory by a country which, so far, does not recognise the existence of Malaysia and has gone to extreme lengths, such as resigning from the United Nations, because of that fact. This war—perhaps that is the wrong phrase—the fighting could stop immediately if Malaysia were recognised. Having said that, we are, of course, prepared to help in any way we can to bring the fighting to an end. A number of friendly countries in Asia have offered their services in this respect, but, as I said last week, we must not get into the position of ourselves negotiating on behalf of Malaysia, because Malaysia is an independent Commonwealth country. We must not give the impression that she is in any sense a colonial dependant of Britain.