§ 12. Mr. Laneasked the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what arrangements have been made for the convening and subsequent work of the Commonwealth study group on Indian Ocean security.
§ Sir Alec Douglas-HomeThese arrangements are in the hands of the Commonwealth Secretary-General, who is still consulting the Governments concerned.
§ Mr. LaneI am grateful for that reply. Will my right hon. Friend continue to do his utmost by way of the study group to get our strategic arrangements in the Indian Ocean on to a wider footing, because exclusive dependence on Simonstown may prove an increasingly uncomfortable posture internationally during the next few years?
§ Sir Alec Douglas-HomeI should very much like to have a wide discussion with members of the Commonwealth about the security of the Indian Ocean, which is a very large problem, as my hon. Friend implied.
§ Mr. James JohnsonWill the right hon. Gentleman tell the House what exchanges he has had with Lagos on this matter, because we understand that General Gowon has pulled out of this eight-nation team? It is no good sheltering behind Mr. Arnold Smith here, since we have had direct communication with the Nigerian Government.
§ Sir Alec Douglas-HomeI assure the hon. Member that I am not trying to shelter behind Mr. Arnold Smith or anyone else. General Gowon said that they would not participate in the group, but I thought that that fact was known.
§ Mr. Laurance ReedWill the study include an examination of the security of under-sea cable links belonging to Commonwealth countries in the Indian Ocean?
§ Sir Alec Douglas-HomeThat is one of the matters which could be included.
§ Mr. HealeyWhile strongly supporting the Foreign Secretary's apparent desire to keep this study group afloat, for the reasons given by his hon. Friend the Member for Cambridge (Mr. Lane), may I ask whether he is aware that the Government's decision this week to receive a further arms purchasing mission from South Africa could only prejudice the chance of getting any other Commonwealth countries to attend such a conference and may well have the most serious consequences for the forthcoming meeting on sterling balances, in which African and Commonwealth countries are very deeply concerned?
§ Sir Alec Douglas-HomeI do not agree with the right hon. Gentleman as to the repercussions of this matter. There has been a South African mission in Europe and it asked whether it could come here. I see no reason why it should not. It does not make the least difference to the commitment which I gave the House not long ago—that the Government's policy remains as it was at the time of our last debate.