Dr. ThomasTo ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if, during his recent visit to the Soviet Union, he specifically raised with Mr. Shevardnadze outstanding scientific verification problems related to the completion of a comprehensive nuclear test ban treaty.
§ Mr. MellorNo. The scientific problems connected with verifying a comprehensive test ban are technical and complex. They must be solved by scientists rather than politicians. That is the purpose of the ad hoc group of scientists of the conference on disarmament which is working on precisely these problems.
Dr. ThomasTo ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if, during his meetings with Soviet officials on his recent visit to the Soviet Union, he discussed the prospects for a joint Anglo-Soviet initiative to develop the 1963 partial nuclear test ban treaty into a comprehensive nuclear test ban treaty.
§ Mr. MellorNo. My right hon. and learned Friend discussed with Mr. Shevardnadze the progress of the United States-Soviet negotiations on nuclear testing which are aimed at step-by-step progress. It is this approach which we support rather than the impractical aim of an immediate ban on testing.