Indian Ocean Territory (Hansard, 18 December 1974)

§ 4. Mr. Mather
asked the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement about Her Majesty's Government's policy towards the British Indian Ocean Territories.

§ Mr. Ennals
The British Indian Ocean Territory is a separate dependency of the Crown. By an agreement signed in December 1966 the islands were made available for the defence purposes of the British and American Governments. No change in Her Majesty's Government's policy is contemplated.

§ Mr. Mather
Will the right hon. Gentleman give a clear assurance that he intends to maintain the integrity of the British Indian Ocean Territories, lying as they do across very important air and sea routes to the Persian Gulf and Hong Kong? Will he say something about the facilities at Gan—whether they will be completely written off and whether alternative facilities exist? What will happen in the Seychelles once independence is negotiated? Are we negotiating a long-term agreement? Will the right hon. Gentleman—

§ Mr. Speaker
Order. That is four questions already.

§ Mr. Ennals
The answer to the hon. Gentleman's first question is that there is certainly no intention of making any change in the status of the territories concerned. My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Defence made a statement which concerned Gan. I cannot further elaborate on that. It is a matter for my right hon. Friend. In relation to the question about the Seychelles, of course all relevant questions will be considered by the constitutional conference on the Seychelles which, as the hon. Gentleman will know, is being held shortly.

§ Mr. Frank Allaun
Have not the Governments of the nations surrounding the Indian Ocean expressed an intense wish that neither the Russian nor the American navies should be present in the area? Therefore, will not the British Government reconsider the leasing of the base at Diego Garcia to the Americans, who propose to spend £12 million—not dollars, but pounds—on developing it as a nuclear base?

§ Mr. Ennals
I cannot give any such assurance to my hon. Friend. A decision has been taken and it was announced by my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Defence. But there is no doubt that countries in the area are concerned about the build-up of naval vessels. Certainly we and the Americans have agreed to consult on arms limitation in the Indian Ocean. We shall also continue discussions with other countries in that area, some of which, such as Australia, have made important proposals.