§ 13. Mr. Luardasked the Secretary of State for Defence what steps he is taking to ensure co-ordination and joint consultation on training, command procedures, and equipment with other Governments which have earmarked forces for peacekeeping purposes.
§ Mr. HealeyI think it would be more appropriate for action towards these ends to be initiated by the Secretary General of the United Nations.
§ Mr. LuardDoes not my right hon. Friend agree that the value of the logistic support which the Government offered for these purposes would be enormously increased if more effective co-ordination of these forces with the forces of other Governments was undertaken? Does not my right hon. Friend recognise that there are great political difficulties in the way of the solution which he has suggested of action by the Secretary-General? What steps are the Government proposing for the future for more effective co-ordination of this kind?
§ Mr. HealeyI can assure my hon. Friend that nobody feels more strongly than I do that it is necessary to achieve effective co-ordination of peace-keeping activities under the United Nations, but for one country—or a small group of countries—to set itself up as an independent entity inside the United Nations for peace-keeping would make the difficulty greater and not less. As my hon. Friend knows, we have agreed to provide logistic support for six battalions of the U.N. force wherever they are required, and we are doing a great deal at this moment in Cyprus to assist U.N. forces, but it is not for this country to set itself up alone to organise a U.N. peace-keeping force.
§ Mr. G. CampbellAre not the Government taking some further initiative with the United Nations Secretariat to get some co-ordination discussed or prepared beforehand since the British contribution is simply a logistic one which would have to work in support of combatant troops from other countries?
§ Mr. HealeyWe are prepared to provide any sort of force for which the United Nations asks us, and the logistic support is not exclusive. We are prepared to provide other forces if required, but, as I said earlier, this is a matter on which the U.N. Secretariat must take the lead. It is not possible to foresee what other countries will contribute forces to any particular U.N. operation in any part of the world. This is one of the things which make it difficult to deal with the problem by co-ordination between national Governments without an initiative from the Secretary-General.