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GRS 1718
CONFIDENTIAL
FM FCO 021130Z NOV 83
TO PRIORITY ACCRA
TELEGRAM NUMBER 323 OF 2 NOVEMBER
AND TO BANJUL, BELMOPAN, BRIDGETOWN, CANBERRA, COLOMBO, DAR ES
SALAAM, DHAKA, FREETOWN, GABORONE, HARARE, KINGSTON, LAGOS,
LILONGWE, LUSAKA, MASERU, MBABANE, NAIROBI, NASSAU, NEW DELHI,
OTTAWA, PORT OF SPAIN, SINGAPORE, SUVA, WELLINGTON
INFO PRIORITY GEORGETOWN, HONIARA, KAMPALA, KUALA LUMPUR,
NICOSIA, NUKU'ALOFA, PORT LOUIS, PORT MORESBY, TARAWA, VALLETTA,
VICTORIA, VILA
PREPARATIONS FOR CHOGM: ADVANCE LOBBYING
MIPT
1. FOLLOWING ARE SUBJECTS OF PARTICULAR CONCERN TO US, WITH
SUGGESTED ACTION CAPITALS, AND LINE TO TAKE.
2.
COMMUNIQUE (NEW DELHI, SINGAPORE, OTTAWA, CANBERRA,
WELLINGTON, NAIROBI). (NEW DELHI COULD HANG THEIR APPROACH ON
RASGOTRA'S COMMENT TO MR WHITNEY ON 15 AUGUST THAT HE THEN HAD NO
PRE-CONCEIVED IDEAS ON THE COMMUNIQUE BUT WOULD WELCOME
SUGGESTIONS.)
WE OF COURSE LOOK FORWARD TO FULL FREE AND WIDE-RANGING
DISCUSSION AT NEW DELHI. BUT WE BELIEVE IT IS A MISTAKE FOR
COMMUNIQUE TO REFLECT THIS IN DETAIL. MELBOURNE COMMUNIQUE (90
PARAGRAPHS) WAS FAR TOO LONG. IF COMMUNIQUE IS TO MAKE ANY
PUBLIC IMPACT, IT MUST BE BRIEF. RAMPHAL HAS RECENTLY SUGGESTED
THAT NEW DELHI COMMUNIQUE SHOULD BE SHORTENED BY ISSUING A
SEPARATE DOCUMENT ON COMMONWEALTH FUNCTIONAL COOPERATION. THIS
WILL HELP, BUT WE ARE STILL ANXIOUS TO KEEP ALL SECTIONS OF
COMMUNIQUE DOWN TO A MANAGEABLE AND READABLE LENGTH.
3. BRIEFEST PREVIOUS COMMUNIQUES HAVE BEEN 23 PARAGRAPHS (1971,
SINGAPORE) AND 36 PARAGRAPHS (1973, OTTAWA). THEY ACHIEVED
BREVITY BY LISTING IN ONE PARAGRAPH A NUMBER OF POLITICAL
SUBJECTS DISCUSSED, RECORDING AGREEMENTS REACHED WHERE
APPROPRIATE, BUT NOT ITEMISING DIFFERENT VIEWS EXPRESSED.
IN
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