Foreign Relations of the United States, 1981–1988, Volume XXXVIII, International Economic Development; International Debt; Foreign Assistance

78. Telegram From the Department of State to the Embassy in Australia¹

321405.

Washington, December 4, 1981, 1751Z

SUBJECT

• Message from the President to the Prime Minister concerning CHOGM and Cancun.

1. (C)—Entire text.

2. Please convey the following message from the President to Prime Minister Fraser at the earliest opportunity. There will be no original.

Dear Malcolm:

Thank you very much for your letter of October 15 reporting on the results of the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting and giving your views and those of your Commonwealth colleagues.² Your letter was timely, because it arrived when I was in the midst of preparing for the Cancun Summit where many of these same issues were discussed. I read the Melbourne Declaration with interest.³ We have also studied the Commonwealth communiqué carefully in view of the importance attached to its provisions by many members of the Commonwealth.

Cancun provided a valuable opportunity for exchanging views on global issues. I used this opportunity to present my own views, which I discussed with you in June,⁴ and to gain insight into the views of other world leaders on key global issues. I believe we made real progress in a number of important areas. I was particularly encouraged by the greater emphasis on domestic policies and responsibilities, both in the public and private sectors. These efforts are so essential to support international actions to expand free trade, facilitate capital flows, and provide critical foreign assistance to poorer countries for self-sustaining growth.

I appreciate your deep interest in these matters and your role as chairman of the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting. Our two governments should continue to consult on the issues discussed at the Melbourne and Cancun meetings.

In particular, I share the Commonwealth’s concern about the precarious state of world food security. In this connection, I applaud your decision to establish an Australian center for international agricultural research and also the decision of Prime Minister Trudeau’s government to establish an international center for ocean development and a training program for agricultural extension workers. In a similar vein, I announced at Cancun that the United States Government would form agricultural advisory task forces composed of American experts from government, private industry, and academia to assist developing countries in analyzing and expanding production in their domestic agricultural sectors.⁵

I also stated at Cancun that the United States takes seriously the commitment made at Ottawa quote to participate in preparations for a mutually acceptable process of global negotiations in circumstances offering the prospect of meaningful progress unquote. In our view, such circumstances can only arise on the basis of the four essential understandings I set forth there.

If these four understandings are accepted, then my administration would be willing to engage in a new preparatory process to see what can be achieved. I am urging officials of all concerned governments to confer informally in the coming months on appropriate procedures. In the days ahead, we will be formulating our plans for continuing the dialogue, including what actions, if any, should be supported in the United Nations. It is critical that all countries make the greatest effort to sustain and build on the constructive character of recent meetings such as your Melbourne and the Cancun meetings. I sincerely hope that the situation, especially in New York, will not deteriorate once again into fruitless maneuvering to confront or isolate individual participants. Any concrete suggestions you or your government have on this delicate stage of the dialogue will be very welcome here in Washington.

[Omitted here are discussion of African and other issues, and the text of Fraser’s letter.]

Stoessel

1. Source: Department of State, Central Foreign Policy File, Electronic Telegrams, D810577–0658. Confidential; Niact Immediate. Drafted by Richard Zorn (EA/ANZ); cleared by Katherine Shirley (S/S) and Edric Sherman (S/S–O); approved by John Holdridge (EA).
2. The text of the October 15 letter from Fraser to Reagan is included in this telegram but not printed. In telegram 10294 from Canberra, October 21, the Embassy reported on the 1981 Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting, which took place in Melbourne from September 30 to October 7. The Embassy reported that it had pouched copies of the meeting’s final communiqué and the Melbourne Declaration to all addressees. (Department of State, Central Foreign Policy File, Electronic Telegrams, D810495–0882)
3. Telegram 1761 from Melbourne, October 5, transmitted the text of the Melbourne Declaration issued at the 1981 Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting. (Department of State, Central Foreign Policy File, Electronic Telegrams, D810468–0036)
4. Reagan met with Fraser on June 30 in Washington. The text of the memorandum of conversation of this meeting is scheduled for publication in Foreign Relations, 1981–1988, vol. XXXII, Southeast Asia; Pacific.
5. In a November 13 meeting of the Cabinet Council on Food and Agriculture, McPherson and others discussed Reagan’s commitment to send American task forces to assist developing counties in their agricultural development and how the United States could coordinate the effort. The meeting minutes are in the Reagan Library, Ralph Bledsoe Files, Office of Policy Development, Cabinet Councils, Other Cabinet Councils, Cabinet Council on Food and Agriculture.