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taking Vietnamese refugees and it had been agreed to keep in
close touch over this.
12.
M. Dumas said he wished to add only on East-West
relations that France had observed some movement by the
Russians over human rights and diplomatic relations with
Israel.
DEFENCE
13. On the European Fighter Aircraft, M. Quiles recalled
President Mitterrand's letter to other European leaders. He had agreed with Mr Heseltine the need for a political overview of future analysis of requirements at a technical level: the French approach was pragmatic.
14.
On SDI he said that Mr Heseltine had corrected false
German press reports about the UK's agreement on co-operation
with the United States (Mr Heseltine later added that the
Government still had to make a decision, which had been
delayed by his absence in the Far East.)
15.
M. Quiles noted that in the efforts to find a financial partner for Westlands Helicopters, Sikorsky of the United States and Aerospatiale/MBB had an interest. This could be a case for European preference. A decision was needed quickly because of the seriousness of the financial position of
Westlands.
16.
Mr Heseltine said that their frank discussion had been
desirable following the disappointment over EFA. The UK would take a practical view on finding common components with Rafale. We awaited the specific proposals promised by the French side. There was a need for study of possibilities for wider co-operation in the aeronautics field, as agreed at the Hague meeting of the IEPG. We had every wish to fulfil our European obligations.
CONFIDENTIAL
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