India opposed to military expansion in Indian Ocean

Press, 5 March 1980, Page 3

India opposed to military expansion in Indian Ocean

NZPA-AP New Delhi India was opposed to any move by Australia or New Zealand to expand their military role in the Indian Ocean, said a Government spokesman yesterday. “India is opposed to any initiative or move which adds to the military confrontation in the Indian Ocean region especially, or in other parts of the world,” the spokesman said, when

asked about last week’s A.N.Z.U.S. decision. “Such initiatives are detrimental to the defusing of the situation and the cause of peace and stability in the area,” he said. A Joint communique announcing the move was irsued in Washington by United States Secretary of State (Mr Cyrus Vance); the Australian Foreign Minister (Mr Andrew Peacock); and the New Zealand Minister of

Foreign Affairs (Mr Taiboys) after a meeting of the A.N.Z.U.S, treaty group. The communique said that increased naval strength would include the dispatch of an Australian aircraft carrier to the Indian Ocean later this year. Mr Peacock said that the three nations were responding to the “threat posed by the Soviet Union to Persian Gulf oil supplies.”