CONFIDENTAL
Negotiations with the Sultan of Brunei
6.
Negotiations with the Sultan of Brunei are due to resume in London on
12 June. The FCO believe that these talks are unlikely to be conclusive,
but they hope that a new Anglo-Brunei Treaty of Friendship will result in
due course, and, associated with it, provision for a Gurkha battalion to be
stationed in Brunei for a further period of up to 5 years.
The Current Problem and its Solution
7. The process of amalgamation and rundown takes some 12 months to plan
and implement. We have therefore, already passed the point at which it would
still be possible to honour our commitment in respect of the Gurkhas in the
1974 Defence Review. We need to be able to regularise the situation, to Parliament,
to the public, and to the Gurkhas themselves. We will also, of course, need
to inform the Government of Nepal.
8.
In these circumstances, the MOD wish to retain the Brigade of Gurkhas
at the present level of five battalions, deployed and paid for as set out in
paragraphs 3 and 4, until at least 12 months after the Brunei commitment
ceases, whenever that may be. We have already embarked upon a thorough
examination of Gurkha manpower, which is likely to result in economies and
there is a strong possibility that a five-battalion Brigade can be supported
by a trained adult strength of several hundreds less than the present
establishment of 7000]. DS7 to add a sentence on the cost of the UK
battalion_7.
9.
I do not believe that the continued retention of a Brigade of Gurkhan
of this size and strength will cause any significant parliamentary or public
concern; the Government of Nepal can also be expected to acquiesce. Because
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