Page 43 - Records of Bahrain (7) (ii)_Neat

Great Britain: policy 433

Gir,
Registry X Imvo jrund with much in l.crosij Y«»ur
No.
Kxcolleticy1 o despatch iio.ii" (1011/1) or Uio 17th
loTr.Sccrcr
Secret. of May in which .you draw attention to the
Confidunli.il.
Roswiolotf int. rnnl dangers which lie below the surface of
Open.
tho present nnpurent prosperity in Bahrain mid
Draft.
recommend that II.M.Govcrninont i'c-oppiaaioo their
Poopstch to
Bahrain. policy in order to he able to take steps to.
force tail those dangers or, should they material-
iao, to ensure that British interoota 'm, ,Bahrain
Z
O suffer os little no possible. 1 have[more
cc
< rcc’cntl^Jscon Mr. Man's despatch Ho,105E of
z 1Ro.V><Yc\
P of* J iaLw5 the 22nd of October which shows that Bahrain's
£
X O.V1VI»vJvv4a~'.‘> *V. prosperity may well be threatened by devolop-
Os.0tV„
J Vto-VV*. WwVll.. • iiicnjls in Gnudi Arabia and elsewhere in the
Z
Vvs
l'crpiun Gulf] and also by the failure of the
z U.^vjTAa*U.^
UJ Rul ir to {'.rasp such commercial and economic op-
t
s portunities Jis ore now offered to the Island.
5 I
r “ ^Historically, Bahrain has for some hundred
or iiore yearn played a role in our commercial and
def .nee oyotJino. Commercially the role of
Bull -ain may .odny be regarded ns useful rath«:r i
than important, In our defence system the place
of Bahrain has in recent years radically changed
and in some ways increased. for whoiv.as tho
i
Island was ail outpost for the defence of the .
Indian iM.ipire against the establishment in the
Persian Gulf of uny strong foreign power and may
utllliinvi. a role to play in this respect in the
defence of both the Commonwealth and tho West,
our preponderant concern with it today is as a
forward haoo for tho discharge of U.ti.c.'s
obligation to defend Kuwait and tho important
British interests established in or-associuted
with Kuwait.
/JJ.