§ Dr. Julian LewisTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will make a statement on military relations with Argentina. [134959]
§ Mr. HoonThe United Kingdom has a successful defence relationship with Argentina. We conduct annual defence contact talks, at which we agree an extensive defence contacts programme. This year's programme consists of over 50 items, including places on each other's training courses; ship and aircraft visits; exchanges of defence personnel and several visits by senior military officers. I visited Buenos Aires in March this year, and the Argentine Defence Minister, Sir Ricardo Lopez-Murphy, visited the UK as a guest of the British Government in July.