TNAG-0832-FCO40-1040-Future-of-the-Dependent-Territories-1979 — Page 154

CONFIDENTIAL AND PERSONAL

DSR 11C

the Commonwealth, we shall be glad to send you fuller

details.

11.

Unfortunately, attempts to introduce a similar arrangement for UN membership have proved inconclusive, mainly because of the difficulty of agreeing acceptable criteria for defining the different types of membership.

12. Certain territories are also known to feel apprehensive that independence, by putting an end to Britain's responsibility for their external defence, would leave them exposed to aggresion. This is a problem that can only be dealt with on a territory by territory basis. Where there is an identifiable external threat, as there is for example

in Belize, we shall endeavour to counter it as seems most

appropriate in the circumstances. In such cases, it is

unlikely that either we or the territory concerned would

wish to proceed to independence until we were satisfied

that the threat had been an effectively neutralised.

13. There can be no question of our entering into military treaties with our former dependencies on the attainment of independence. We are however prepared to consider requests for help in training and building up local police forces to the point where they are capable of maintaining internal security after independence without the need for any

external reinforcements.

14. This despatch is being addressed to the Governors of Belize, Bermuda, British Virgin Islands, Cayman Islands, Falkland Islands and Dependencies, Gibraltar, Gilbert Islands,

Montserrat, Pitcairn, St Helena and Dependencies,

Turks and Caicos Islands, to the British Resident

Commissioner New Hebrides and to HM Commissioner, Anguilla. Copies for information are being sent to the Governor of Hong Kong, to HM Representatives at Washington, Paris, Bonn, Madrid, Canberra, Suva, Peking, Kingston, Port of Spain, Buenos Aires, Guatemala City, Mexico City and Pretoria, to the UK Representatives to the EEC and the UN, the British Government Representative to the West Indian Associated States in Bridgetown and to the Head of the Development

Division in the Caribbean.

CONFIDENTIAL AND PERSONAL

Dd 0532000 400 M 5/78 HMSO Bracknell