CONFIDENTIAL
Brunei, and we would need to handle the situation carefully.
19. On the Cyprus SBAS (Serial 8) a small run down in troop numbers would have no direct foreign policy implications. Our interest lies in ensuring that co-operation with the Republic, as envisaged in the Treaty, is preserved.
20.
Our
The Five Power Defence Arrangements (Serial 9) is an important multilateral agreement to which the UK renewed its commitment in discussions with the other participating countries in 1989. main concern is to allay fears in Singapore and Malaysia that the
Our aim UK's support for the FPDA will diminish as 1997 approaches. is to maximise the effect of our contribution by concentrating on areas where the UK has a particular skill (eg air-to-air refuelling and deploying air defence capable ships from the Armilla Patrol), and by coordinating our activities better with Australia and New
Zealand.
21. The British Indian Ocean Territory BIOT (Serial 10) is of course in a special position among our dependent territories. British involvement in BIOT is part of our overall defence relationship with the Americans, and we have always taken the view that it makes sense and is cost effective to use military personnel in what is primarily a military environment. The existing arrangement was endorsed by Sir Richard Vincent following his visit
in December 1989.
22. The Armilla Patrol (Serial 11), is a commitment likely to be affected by the outcome of the tug of war between the MOD and the Treasury about whether the Royal Navy should be fixed at 38 or 35 destroyers/frigates. We are content for planning to proceed on the basis of a two-vessel operation in 1992. Present and future commitments generally in the Gulf Region are of course the subject of current interdepartmental discussion in the wake of the war. There is a danger that overall expectations in the region may exceed our ability to respond accordingly. There is also some danger that the MOD may find itself unable to follow through any commitment to
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