CONFIDENTIAL
Page 275
Discussion showed that the Committee agreed that formal advice to
the Sultan on constitutional progress should not be given for the reasons
adduced by the Commonwealth Secretary. There was also general agreement that we should delay giving notice of termination of the Agreement in view
of the risk of retaliation by the Sultan, and of possible effects on the
stability of the area. This might take the form of demanding the
immediate withdrawal of our garrison, which consisted mainly of a Gurkha
battalion, stationed there which we should have difficulty in accommodating
elsewhere. On the other hand, there should be no delay to our plan for
withdrawing our garrison in the autumn of 1968 and our aim should
continue to be to free ourselves as soon as possible from our commitment
to the external defence of Brunei, a commitment which we should have
increasing difficulty in meeting. It would also be advisable to give
the Australians, the New Zealanders and the Malaysians advance notice
of our intention to abrogate the Agreement.
The Committee were advised that it was not necessary to give notice of
termination of the Agreement on the anniversary of its signature. The
Agreement contained no provision for termination, and it was therefore
essential to give reasonable notice. Two years notice from any specific
date could be held as reasonable under international law.
THE PRIME MINISTER, summing up, said that the Committee agreed that
it would be inadvisable at present to implement their decisions of
28th July on Brunei; formal advice to the Sultan on the need to
democratise the constitution of Brunei should not be given, and notice of
termination of the Agreement should be deferred for the time being.
question should be reviewed early in 1968.
The
The Committee
(1) Agreed that formal advice should not be given to the
Sultan of Brunei on constitutional progress and that formal notice of termination of the 1959 Anglo-Brunei Agreement should not be given at present.
(2) Agreed to review the question again early in 1968.
-2-
Page 275
Page 275
CONFIDENTIAL