§ 87. Mr. Rankinasked the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what is his policy towards a major naval base in the Indian Ocean; and what other countries are associated with Great Britain in this project.
§ Mr. Anthony RoyleUnder an exchange of notes of December, 1966, published in April, 1967 (Cmnd. 3231) a number of islands in the Indian Ocean were made available for a period of 50 23W years for the defence purposes of both the United States and the British Governments. As was stated by my hon. Friend the Under-Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs on 16th November, these islands have always been envisaged as providing potential sites for transit, communications and support facilities. We have no programme for creating a major naval base in the Indian Ocean.—[Vol. 806, c. 988.]