India
CONFIDENTIAL
CAS are already planned for February and Karch respectively (after which the weather becomes uncomfortably hot) a visit by the Secretary of State in the first week in October is suggested. Secondly, a high priority is placed on rearranging the Secretary of State's recently cancelled visit to India. India occupies an important political position in the area as well as in the non-aligned movement, and has also been a major purchaser of UK defence equipment. These long-standing reasons for a visit have been reinforced by the advent of Rajiv Gandhi's new government and the importance of repairing the damage done to Anglo-Indian relations by Sikh activity in the UK. Mr Alexander, the Prime Minister's Principal Secretary, recently said that a visit by Mr Heseltine any time from April onwards would be welcome. As Mrs Thatcher may pay a very brief visit in early April, the second half of the month would appear most suitable. The Indian "spy scandal" may however affect the timing (Mr Alexander has himself resigned). Finally, Nigeria is a country in which the UK has considerable defence policy and sales interests as well as wider commercial and political ones. We currently have 44 LSP in the country, our fifth largest con- tingent worldwide. Though Mr Lee visited the country last year on sales business, this was the first Defence Ministerial visit for a number of years. In view of the Dikko cloud over Anglo- Nigerian relations since last year and, more particularly, the military character of the Buhari government that came to power at the end of 1983, considerable importance is attached to a broader Defence Ministerial visit, to re-establish our traditionally close relationship and to this end we strongly recommend a visit by Minister(AF).
similarly
4. Detailed notes are attached on the proposed Ministerial pro- gramme for NATO and other European countries (Annex B) and for non-NATO countries outside Europe (Annex C). In view of their relevance to the Ministerial visit programme, a summary of the planned inward and outward Chiefs of Staff visits is also attached (Annex D).
5. We have now been undertaking the annual exercise for about five years.
I should be grateful to know whether you and other Private Offices continue to find it of value and whether you would wish Sec(0)(C) to continue to repeat it in future years. More specifically, in respect of the two visits proposed for the Secretary of State to which we give particularly high priority, India and Oman, I should be grateful to know whether, in consul- tation with your office and the FCO, we can try to establish firm dates through our posts in New Delhi and Muscat.
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CONFIDENTIAL
J K LEGGE
Head of Sec (0)(C) XB5302 6144 MB