SEATO PACT PLANS

Press, Volume XCIII, Issue 27909, 5 March 1956, Page 11

SEATO PACT PLANS

Aims Said To Be Redefined

(Rec. 9 p.m.) WASHINGTON, Mar. 3. The United States and at least some of its SEATO defence allies were reported today to have redefined their views on the role of the SEATO pact.

Mr Dulles, the United States Secretary of State, now on his way to Asia, was expected to discuss modifications in the SEATO concept at the council meeting beginning in Karachi on March 6.

A Reuter correspondent said that a long series of preliminary exchanges among representatives of the SEATO allies—the United States. Britain, France. Pakistan, the Philippines. New Zealand. Thailand, and Australia —in Washington had produced this trend of thought:—

(1) That attempts to embrace such nations as India. Burma. Ceylon and Indonesia might just as well be given up as hopeless. (2) The SEATO alliance, as an instrument of policy, must be regarded primarily as a military defence pact rather than an all-embracing economic, political, and military organisation. (3) The kernel of SEATO strength would be uncommitted mobile forces, and there would therefore be no great future build-up in terms of manpower. Rather, the future emphasis in strengthening the pact would be on training and modernising equipment temper ing the present weapon rather than enlarging it. Authorities in Washington emphasised that modification of the views on the role of SEATO does not infer anv lessening of its importance. The SEATO machinery was still regarded as the bulwark against Communist Chinese attempts to subjugate smaller neighbours through force of arms or internal subversion. But, the general feeling here was that to attempt to plan politically for Asia within SEATO references would cause estrangement and final isolation from such critically interested nonmembers as Japan, India, Ceylon. Burma, Indonesia and the States of Indo-China.