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5 per cent over 1974. The Soviet forces now deployed are greater than
could possibly be needed for garrison duties, or to repel an attack by NATO –
if such a thing were conceivable. Deployed as they are, these
Soviet forces represent a powerful instrument of war but
their increasing capabilities must be measured not only in terms
of military potential but also as a possible means of reinforcing
political pressure without recourse to overt hostilities.
9. The strategic nuclear forces of the West are the ultimate
deterrent against strategic nuclear attack. But in a period of
strategic parity they do not necessarily constitute a credible
deterrent against lower levels of aggression.
For this purpose
the West must also deploy credible numbers of conventional and tactical
nuclear forces. These can be provided in an effective way only through
the North Atlantic Alliance, to whose support the Government is fully
committed.
10.
DEVELOPMENTS IN NATO
On 26 June 1974 the Heads of Government of North Atlantic
Treaty nations signed in Brussels a Declaration on Atlantic
Relations, previously agreed by Foreign Ministers at the Ottawa
Meeting of the North Atlantic Council. The members of the
Alliance thus re-dedicated themselves to the aims and ideals of
the North Atlantic Treaty in the year of the twenty-fifth
anniversary of its signature.
The Defence Planning Committee
11. Meetings of the NATO Defence Planning Committee in
Ministerial Session were held in June and December 1974.
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