asked the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what progress has been achieved towards implementing his suggestion that there should be a political dialogue between Ministers of NATO and representatives of Warsaw Pact countries.

asked the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what progress has been made in arranging the dialogue with Warsaw Pact Ministers proposed by him on 7 December 1978.

At the North Atlantic Council last December, my right hon. Friend suggested that better progress might be made in detente if Ministers themselves took part in negotiations. The Council agreed to keep this possibility under review both for the MBFR negotiations and for the CSCE follow-up meeting in Madrid.