JEZ 014/1
Reference
76
CONFIDENTIAL
2111
Mr Quantrill (HKGD)
POLICY TOWARDS DEPENDENT TERRITORIES
691.
In your minute of 10 October covering a draft despatch on our policy towards our remaining dependent territories you raised the question whether the annex to the despatch should include mention of the British Indian Ocean Territory (BIOT).
2. BIOT is clearly odd man out among our dependent territories. As a territory established specifically to cater for long term UK and US defence needs and depopulated as a matter of policy in order to avoid any future prejudice to these needs, its future is not bound up with that of UK dependent territories in general, and our general policy is clearly not of any direct relevance to BIOT. At the same time I believe it worthwhile to include reference to the Territory in your proposed despatch. In part simply for the sake of completeness,
:
In addition, BIOT may attract
increasing publicity, because of the way it came into being (detachment from an existing dependent territory and removal of the local population) and because of increasing Third World pressure for the "Indian Ocean as a Zone of Peace" proposal.
3. I attach a draft.
THIS IS A COPY
THE ORIGINAL HAS BEEN CLOSED
UNTIL
EXEMPTION No ??
27.(9.)(c) (d).....
23 October 1978
N Claybe
UNDER FOI
Hicc 025/2
нка
RECEIV
DESA INDEX
No
R.5. Rating
PE Rosling
SEY NO. 51
1 4 NOV 1978
$
East African Department
EQISTRY
Action Taken
24/111 ex
This is helpful, though I am not ze that we need
anything quite so detailed.
8224/10
CODE 18-77
люти
CONFIDENTIAL