+
INDIAN OCEAN
Aldab.
Chagos
CONFIDENTIAL
Seychelles
(? oil) (? oil)
.
(? oil and some fish)
1
PACIFIC
Solomon Islands
Gilbert and Ellice
Islands
辈
(? oil and some fish) (Some fish and possible proximity to manganese nodules)
2. BAT, Aldabra, Chagos, Falkland Island
have already been identified
-Dependencies and St Helena/Ascension/in the 1973
PAR as worth holding on to. This survey appears
to reinforce that conclusion.
Belize
3. BAT, and the Falkland Islands could not be
1
exploited by Britain without contravening existing
treaties or raising major political difficulties
with other claimants. There might also be
trouble over rival claims to the resources in
the EEZ of Chagos and Turks and Caicos.
4. The Solomons and the Caribbean associated
states are already moving towards independence
and it would be difficult, even if their
resources proved to be substantial, to reverse
the process.
!
5. This leaves the Virgin Islands, Cayman,
Montserrat, Turks and Caicos, Seychelles and
parts of the Gilbert and Ellice group whose
future might, in the light of more detailed
information about their resources, need to be
reconsidered.
Only in the case of the Sychelles
will we need to take a decision in the fairly
decision
CONFIDENTIAL
/near
!
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