§ Mr. Hooleyasked the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs whether the United Kingdom intends to take part in meetings of United Nations committees concerned with the proposal for making the Indian Ocean a zone of peace; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. LuardAs I said in my reply to a Question from my hon. Friend on 9th May, the United Kingdom is not a member of the United Nations Ad Hoc Committee on the Indian Ocean. We have been invited to take part in consultations with that Committee; but the terms of the invitation have sought to prejudge the outcome of the consultations in unacceptable ways. We share the desire of the littoral States for some form of arms limitation in the region, and hence we776W welcome the recent discussions between the United States and the Soviet Union about mutual military restraint there.