§ 11. Mr. Watkinsonasked the Secretary of State for Defence if he remains satisfied with the progress of the Mutual and Balanced Forces Reductions talk in Vienna.
§ Mr. MulleyWe are disappointed by the lack of response from the East to Western attempts to bridge the gap between the positions of the two sides. We shall continue our efforts to reach an agreement based on an outcome of parity.
§ Mr. WatkinsonDoes my hon. Friend agree that one of the stumbling blocks in these talks lies in the misconception about the concept of parity? Does he agree that now that the West has adopted a more qualitative approach, it should provide some hope for these talks? What are his views about the idea of national force reductions as an element in the talks?
§ Mr. MulleyAs to greater flexibility on the part of the West, my hon. Friend will know that the Western countries have collectively made proposals that we had hoped would receive a more positive response from Warsaw Pact countries but, so far, that has not been forthcoming. As to national ceilings, that would be contrary to the whole concept of NATO's collective rôle. It is only right that the total strength should be assessed on an Alliance basis rather than that we should seek to impose national totals. But I hope that as a result of the increased interest of the new American President we shall be able to achieve a further impetus in these important talks in Vienna.
§ Mr. FormanWill the Secretary of State say whether it is true that the term "balanced" has been dropped from the Russian title of the talks? If so, what conclusion does the Minister draw from that?
§ Mr. MulleyI am not aware of what alterations the Russians may have made in their own terminology. We must ponder carefully the fact that there would be no point in a percentage reduction that would mean that an imbalance in conventional forces would remain.
§ Mr. LeeIf we are to make a credible and not economically enfeebling contribution to defence, should we not pay attention to General Kitson and make the British Army into anti-terrorist terrorists? Would that not be more useful than what we are doing on a global scale?
§ Mr. MulleyI have not read General Kitson's recent book, but as far as I know he made no observations on how to conduct talks in Vienna.
§ Mr. Ian GilmourWhat arrangements have been made to link the talks with the negotiations between the United States and the Soviet Union on the new SALT agreement?
§ Mr. MulleyAs far as I know, there are unlikely to be direct links, although the United States keeps its allies informed on the progress of SALT. I do not know what happens within the Warsaw Pact, but the area in Central Europe defined in MBFR talks is narrowly confined, whereas SALT deals with strategic weapons held in a wider area than the MBFR area. One would like to see progress on both fronts.