§ 2.7 p.m.
§ LORD ROWLEYMy Lords, I beg leave to ask the Question which stands in my name on the Order Paper.
§ [The Question was as follows:
§ To ask Her Majesty's Government whether, following the approval of the Non-Proliferation Treaty by the United Nations General Assembly, it is their policy to collaborate with President Johnson in his proposals to end the nuclear arms race an3 to reduce the existing nuclear stockpiles.]
§ THE MINISTER OF STATE FOR FOREIGN AFFAIRS (LORD CHALFONT)Yes, my Lords, As my right honourable friend the Minister of State with special responsibility for disarmament matters made clear in his statement in the First Committee of the United Nations on May 28, we regard the Non-Proliferation Treaty as an essential first step in achieving the ending of the nuclear arms race and making progress towards general and complete disarmament. We are pledged, under the Treaty, to work for progress in this direction. We intend to do all in our power to carry out our commitments.
§ LORD ROWLEYMy Lords, following up the speech of President Johnson, may I ask my noble friend whether it is intended that Her Majesty's Government 515 should enter into diplomatic discussions with the United States Government and the Soviet Government with a view to the achievement of an agreed plan for nuclear disarmament to be placed before the Geneva Disarmament Conference?
§ LORD CHALFONTMy Lords, as my noble friend will know, we are always engaged in diplomatic consultations with the Soviet Government, the United States Government and other Governments about these problems. We very much hope that, first of all, it will be possible for the United States and the Soviet Union to get together and move towards an understanding about nuclear weapons, and especially about things like ballistic missile defence, which seems to me to be an integral part of the arms race; and we, of course, shall be ready to take part in any talks if it appears to be valuable for us to do so.