INDIAN OCEAN Naval forces cause concern

Press, Volume CXIII, Issue 33383, 15 November 1973, Page 13

INDIAN OCEAN Naval forces cause concern

(N.Z.P.A.-Reuter —Copyright; NEW YORK, November 13. A resolution has been introduced in the United Nations General Assembly’s Main Political Committee calling on the Secretary-General (Dr Kurt Waldheim) to draw up a report on the Great Powers’ military presence in the Indian Ocean, with special reference to their naval deployments, “conceived in the contest of Great Power rivalry.”

The draft, sponsored by 14 countries, is proposed in the context of a 1971 Assembly resolution declaring the Indian Ocean to be a zone of peace. It has been presented at a time when the United States and the Soviet Union, contrary to the intention of the 1971 resolution, are both increasing their naval presence in the Indian Ocean because of the tension in the Middle East and the Gulf. Formally introduced by Mr Hamilton Amerasinghe, of Sri Lanka, the new resolution urges all States to accept the principles and objects in the 1971 declaration of the Indian Ocean as a zone of peace. Introducing the resolution, Mr Amerasinghe said: “. . . These naval deployments are a manifestation of the extension of the arms race into the Indian Ocean. If the peace zone idea is to become a reality, States in and around the Indian Ocean must not allow foreign military bases to be established within their territories

under the cloak of meeting the host countries’ security and defence needs. “. . . The study requested of the Secretary-General, with the aid of qualified experts chosen by him, is necessary if correct decisions are to be made. It would serve as a guide to the United Nations in determining what should, or should not, be permitted within the concept of the peace zone.”