1
Mr Colvin, SEAD
CONFIDENTIAL
758
HKC062/1
Future of the Five Power Defence Arrangements
The Secretary of State has seen your submission of
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26 April, Mr McLaren's comments of 4 May and Lord Glenarthur's comments of 8 May. He agrees with those comments. He sees good Pol/Mil reasons for not winding down our involvement in the FPDA just as the region is beginning to worry about growing Indian, Japanese and Chinese power and the relative decline of the United States. The FPDA is really gesture politics. The Secretary of State's inclinations are in favour of a long term commitment on a modest scale. A great deal of Britain's long distance foreign policy in support of our commercial interests, and credibility of our Permanent Membership of the Security Council etc consists of such projection of the thin red line; Belize, Nyanga, the Armilla patrol, Loan Services Personnel, training are all examples of this. Much of this activity is in fairly unprofitable regions of the world such as Central America and Southern Africa. The Secretary of State thinks it would make sense to retain if possible a comparable gesture laden presence in an area of growing prosperity that seems to welcome the reassurance of British involvement.
15 May 1989
CC:
PS/Lord Glenarthur
Mr Gillmore
Mr McLaren
Mr Yarnold, Defence Dept
Mr Thomas, SPD
Mr Cooper, Planners
Mr Paul, HKD
(R N Peirce)
CONFIDENTIAL
8016/
Miss Maroden
Mr Forman 165 моболтал
маматика
Wiss
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