§ Mr. Frank Allaunasked the Lord Privy Seal which countries of Eastern and Central Europe are currently beneficiaries under the British negative security assurance as declared to the United Nations on 26 June 1978 and confirmed on 12 August 1980; whether the list includes any country on whose territory Soviet nuclear weapons are known or believed to be stationed; and whether, where this is not the case, this constitutes a "non-stationing condition" in the British negative security assurance.
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§ Mr. HurdThere is no non-stationing requirement in the United Kingdom's negative security assurance. All non-nuclear weapon States which are parties to the nonproliferation treaty are currently covered by the terms of our negative security assurance, whether or not they may have Soviet nuclear weapons stationed on their territory.
§ Mr. Frank Allaunasked the Lord Privy Seal if he will undertake to keep the House fully informed of the initiatives by the United Kingdom, the United states of America and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, towards agreeing a common formula for all the negative security assurances as proposed in the latter's draft international convention on this matter.
§ Mr. HurdWe will naturally keep the House fully informed of any significant initiatives on this subject. While not opposed in principle to a common formula, we do not believe the Soviet draft convention, which is based on their own individual assurance, will promote effective progress.
§ Mr. Frank Allaunasked the Lord Privy Seal if the Government will take urgent steps to seek agreement in the United Nations Committee on Disarmament on what constitutes a non-nuclear weapon State in view of the discrepancy between the existing Soviet and British definitions of the countries protected under their respective negative security assurances.
§ Mr. HurdThe United Kingdom will continue to play a full part in the working group on negative security assurances set up in the Committee on Disarmament. We believe it to be right that what constitutes a non-nuclear weapon state in this context should be determined on the basis of the definition of a nuclear weapon state contained in the non-proliferation treaty, to which the Soviet Union is a party. This definition is widely accepted internationally.
§ Mr. Frank Allaunasked the Lord Privy Seal if he will give the context of the non-proliferation treaty where a non-nuclear weapon State is defined; and whether the text of the treaty specifically permits a State to have nuclear weapons on its territory while remaining a non-nuclear weapon State so long as those weapons are controlled by an existing nuclear weapon State.
§ Mr. HurdThe non-proliferation treaty contains no provisions expressly defining a non-nuclear weapon state. However, a nuclear weapon state is defined under Article IX.3 as follows
For the purposes of this Treaty, a nuclear-weapon State is one which has manufactured and exploded a nuclear weapon or other nuclear explosive device prior to 1 January 1967.Thus, the provisions of the treaty which impose obligations only on non-nuclear weapon States apply to those States which are not included in the definition of nuclear weapon States. There are no provisions in the treaty concerning the presence on the territory of a non-nuclear weapon State of nuclear weapons controlled by a nuclear weapon State.