§ Mr. Roebuckasked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs whether he will list in the Official Report the treaties and other agreements which are regarded by Her Majesty's Government as obliging the United Kingdom to keep a military presence in the Persian Gulf, Cyprus and South-East Asia.
§ Mr. George ThomsonOur relations with the countries concerned are affected by a number of international instruments, includinginter alia the South-East Asia Collective Defence Treaty of 1954, the 1955 Pact of Mutual Cooperation (C.E.N.T.O.), the Anglo/Malaysian Defence Agreements of 1957 and 1963, the Brunei Agreement of 1959, the 1960 (Cyprus) Treaties of Establishment and Guarantee, the 1961 Exchange of Notes with Kuwait and the various treaties and agreements relating to the Persian Gulf referred to by my right hon. Friend the Minister of State in his written reply of 28th February, 1966. While none of these specifically requires us to maintain a military presence, Her Majesty's Government consider at present that the current deployment of our forces is consistent both with the obligations to which these instruments give rise and with our general interests in the areas concerned.—[Vol. 725, c. 177.]