§ 9. Mr. Watkinsonasked the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he plans to seek to visit Vienna.
§ Mr. WatkinsonWill my hon. Friend pass on to his right hon. Friend the Foreign and Commonwealth Secretary the message that he should continue to press for the mutual and balanced force reduction talks to be raised to Foreign Minister level so that we can make some move in this log-jam which has been going on now for five years, the release of which is so vital to security in the central region of Europe?
§ Mr. JuddI agree with my hon. Friend, as I know my right hon. Friend does, that what is most important in arms control matters is to ensure that the detailed technical discussions take place within the framework of real political will to make progress. In this context, we are committed to a meeting at Foreign Minister level when circumstances indicate that serious progress can be made. We do not believe that we have yet reached that stage.
§ Mr. FormanWill the Minister also take the opportunity of an early visit to Vienna to see the people at the International Atomic Energy Agency there and to assure them of Her Majesty's Government's 1124 determination to provide more funds and personnel to backup that agency's work on the safeguards side of nuclear proliferation, especially bearing in mind the recent threat suggested by developments in Argentina, for example?
§ Mr. JuddI can think of no more challenging issue for the international community than effective international action in this sphere. I assure the hon. Member that we want to do anything that we can do in the years ahead to make the work of that agency increasingly effective beyond what it is doing already.