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Mr V P Singh, a former Finance Minister and Defence Minister, would form a minority government in coalition with the Communists and with the Hindu supremacist party, the Bharatiya Janata Party. The opposition parties were unlikely to be able to form a stable coalition in view of the wide ideological and social differences between them. The new government would probably give a lower priority to foreign policy, since it would
forced to concentrate mainly on internal affairs.
The Cabinet -
note.
ONFIDENTIAL
MNITY AFFAIRS
reign Affairs ncil
November
4. THE FOREIGN AND COMMONWEALTH SECRETARY said that the Foreign Affairs Council had adopted a package of trade measures to assist Poland and Hungary: he had himself announced on 29 November, in advance of the visit of Mr Walesa, extra United Kingdom measures assistance to Poland. The Council had also discussed the end of the European Council to be held in Strasbourg an
December.
There would be four main subjects. The
would be the Community's response to events in Eastern Face The discussion between Community Heads of Government Paris on 18 November had been helpful. A more detailed text for option at Strasbourg, covering the framework of relationshich newly-democratic countries of Eastern Europe could expect with the European Community, was now being prepared and it was portant that this should be consistent with the Government own ideas on the issue. Second, the meeting shouldve impetus to future work an achieving the Single Market. is should build on the useful progress made at the meeting of the Internal Market Council and set out priorities for future work The United Kingdom would tend to be isolated on the two remaining subjects. On economic and monetary union it would need to be made clear that the Government held to the approach set out in the Chancellor of the Exchequer's paper and, along with the opposition parties in the House of Commons, rejected the proposals er stages 2 and 3 of the Delors Report. But the debate at Strasbourg would be procedural rather than substantive: it would concern the manner in which the discussion should be continued whether an intergovernmental conference to revise the ty should be called, and if so when. Finally, on the Social charter, the Government had long made its views clear. The mications so far made to the text were inadequate. The Prime Mister had told President Mitterrand that she was ready to discuss a different sort of text on the lines which she had previously discussed with him at Chequers, but the offer had not bẹ up. He had himself had a brief and unproductive word French Foreign Minister on 27 November, and would refer matter again during discussions with him on 5 December. the likely outcome was a document at Strasbourg to which
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