TNAG-0597-FCO40-744-Future-of-Dependent-Territories-territorial-studies-1977 — Page 78

3.

Mr Salim said that the Committee had freed itself from

the stereo-typed points of view of previous years, largely as a consequence of the cooperation the UK had offered. With the progress achieved in African decolonisation it had become possible to devote more attention to the smaller territories. He thought that yet more time and study might be allotted to them in the future. The Ivory Coast idea of in depth studies of the problems of particular territories had something in it.

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4. The Committee would be prepared to accept a final status for a dependent territory short of independence, if it had ascertained from a visiting mission that as with Niue in 1974,

it was the will of the people. Mr Dalton suggested that we might in the next few years want to ask the Committee to, in

effect, do for some of our territories what it had done for Niue. It was clear that Mr Salim thought that this would not present major difficulties and that in due course a territory which opted for example for integration, association, or a treaty relationship, could be removed from the list of non-self- governing territories.

C