§ LORD COLYTONMy 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 what consultation took place with the Governments of Kenya and Tanzania before they took their decision to withdraw British forces from the Indian Ocean.]
§ THE MINISTER OF STATE, FOREIGN AND COMMONWEALTH OFFICE (LORD SHEPHERD)My Lords, no bilateral consultations took place. However, I am confident that British policy is fully understood by the Governments of both Kenya and Tanzania.
§ LORD COLYTONMy Lords, may I ask the noble Lord two supplementary questions? The first is: would it not be normal and proper to consult, or at least to inform, a Commonwealth Government about a matter which could affect their national security? Secondly, what effect has this decision to quit the Indian Ocean upon the naval and military defence liaison agreement between this country and Kenya?
§ LORD SHEPHERDMy Lords, there was no specific requirement for us to consult either of these two countries in our decision to withdraw either from the Far East or from the Red Sea, the Persian Gulf. But, of course, there are ways and means by which countries are informed and I have no doubt at all that both Kenya and Tanzania (it was difficult in the case of Tanzania at the time because we had no official 1608 connection with them) were informed of the reasons for our decision; and I have no doubt that both countries understood our position.
So far as Soviet expansion in that area is concerned, we are of course watching developments closely, but as the noble Lord will be aware, both Kenya and Tanzania have relations with the Soviet Union and it is for them, I think, to consider their own position in the light of their own knowledge.
§ LORD COLYTONMy Lords, I thank the noble Lord for his reply. May I just ask whether he would answer the second question, that is, what is the effect of this decision on the naval and military liaison agreement between this country and Kenya?
§ LORD SHEPHERDMy Lords, the noble Lord knows that we have a series of training co-operation schemes with Kenya, and so far as I know the decision that we have taken does not affect any understanding we have with the Kenya Government.
LORD WEDGWOODMy Lords, may I ask the noble Lord whether Her Majesty's Government fully realise that the withdrawal of British Forces from the Indian Ocean will inevitably greatly improve Communist influence in East Africa, particularly in Kenya which so far has maintained a great degree of stability but where there is likely to be a struggle for power in the near future?
§ LORD SHEPHERDMy Lords, I would not necessarily accept what the noble Lord has said, that as a consequence of our decision to withdraw military bases from that area it necessarily means that the Soviet position is that much stronger. It is for the decision of those countries as to what shall be their relationship with the Soviet Union.
LORD WEDGWOODMy Lords, may I ask a further supplementary question arising from the noble Lord's reply? If membership of the Commonwealth does not include mutual interest in matters of defence, what exactly does membership of the Commonwealth mean to-day?
§ LORD SHEPHERDMy Lords, as my right honourable friend the Prime Minister explained in another place on July 1609 18, 1967, Her Majesty's Government would take all appropriate action to help any fellow member of the Commonwealth who was the victim of unprovoked aggression, considering each case on its merits.