TNAG-1117-FCO40-1391-Future-of-the-Dependent-Territories-1982 — Page 187

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CONFIDENTIAL

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DSR 11C

leadership and cannot resume it just to bring about changes

we want. We shall stand a much better chance of success

if we have support for our ideas from other Commonwealth

members, including some from the New Commonwealth. We shall

also need to work through the Commonwealth Secretariat.

Possible Changes

17. It would be ideal if we could make more use of the

Commonwealth in pursuit of our foreign policy in, for

example, the UN. But the disparate nature of the

Commonwealth, the reluctance of Third World countries

to break ranks with the Group of 77, and the fact that

we are no longer at the centre of the organisation, able

to orchestrate it, make this an unrealistic objective.

We shall have to settle for less.

"...

18. Our objectives might be:

(i)

to encourage the trend towards regional cooperation

in the Commonwealth.

This would maintain

and develop many of the advantages of the

Commonwealth without involving British Ministers

or officials since we are not members of a regional

group. This is likely to find some support among both

old and new Commonwealth members: Australia

has been keen on regional meetings of Asian and

Pacific countries; and Jamaica was disappointed

that more progress towards regionalism was not made

at Melbourne.

/(ii)