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CONFIDENTIAL
Forces in Malaysia. The British military with-
rawal from South-East Asla was one of the big
shifts of history. We could not go on carrying
the burden of worldwide responsibility indefini-
tely. The only question was one of timing.
In the long run Indonesia would have to play a
bigger role and it was therefore important to
foster good relations between Indonesia and her
heighbours. We were still members of SEATO
lthough we did not now declare forces. We
continued to help economically. For example,
we had given £25 million to Malasia and £50
hillion to Sing pore, in addition to the value
of the military facilities handed over.
<
20.
General Co-operation. ASEAN had the merit
of being an Asian creation as well as of
including Singapore. The Malasia-Philippines
dispute acted as a brake on its defence but had
not wrecked the organisation's
work.
21. ASPAC was valuable because it brought
together Asian leaders and Australian and New
Zealand Ministers. Mr. Stewart wondered, how-
over, how much attraction it had for non-aligned
He believed that Japan's influence
Countries.
could be most helpful here.
22. Mr. Stewart had heard that India wanted a
hew regional organisation to be set up to
provide for economic co-operation combined with
the mutual guarantee of frontiers, though with-
but military commitment. Had the Indians
liscussed this with the Japanese?
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