No. Ml 2 2 Date 11 September 1991

SENATOR EVANS *  S VISIT TO INDIA. EUROPE THE UNITED STATES AND  THE CARIBBEAN

The Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade, Senator Gareth  Evans, will leave Australia today to attend a series of high-  level talks in India, Europe,  the United States and the  Caribbean from 12-29 September.

Senator Evans will be in New Delhi from 12-15 September for a  meeting of the Commonwealth Foreign Ministers on Southern  Africa (CFMSA) and a series of bilateral discussions.

The CFMSA meeting, on 13-14 September, will discuss whether  criteria set in London in February for the lifting of "people-  oriented" sanctions, such as visa restrictions and direct air  links, have been met.

The meeting will also consider criteria for the lifting of  trade, investment and financial sanctions and possible  Commonwealth assistance for post-apartheid South Africa.

While he is in New Delhi, Senator Evans will hold bilateral  discussions with Indian Ministers including the Indian Foreign  Minister, Mr Madhavsinh Solanki.

Senator Evans will travel to Vienna on 16 September where he  will lead the Australian delegation to the 35th General  Conference of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).  He will deliver Australia's statement and will hold talks with

senior agency officers including the Director General, Dr Hans  Blix.

The Conference will be the most important since the IAEA's  inception in 1957, taking place against the background of the  Gulf War and the finding on 18 July that Iraq had violated its  Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty safeguards agreement.

While in Vienna, Senator Evans will meet with the Austrian  Foreign Minister, Mr Alois Mock.

After the IAEA Conference, Senator Evans will travel to  Luxembourg for Ministerial talks (17 September) and the  Netherlands (17-19 September).

In the Netherlands on 18 September, Senator Evans will meet  Dutch Foreign Minister, Mr Hans Van den Broek, and other  members of the Dutch Government which presently holds the EC  Presidency.

COMMONWEALTH  PARLIAMENTARY LIBRARY  M ICAH

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Discussions are expected to centre on the crisis in

Yugoslavia, developments in the Soviet Union and other issues  such as the Uruguay Round and the EC'  s Common Agricultural  Policy.

The meeting will be the third between Australia and the EC  Presidency under new consultative arrangements agreed last  year.

Senator Evans will also deliver a major address to an

Australian Business in Europe lunch in Amsterdam on prospects  for business links between Australia and the EC.

Senator Evans will visit Barbados on 19-20 September and  Jamaica from 20-22 where discussions will focus on

Commonwealth issues such as the lifting of sanctions -  particularly sporting sanctions - against South Africa.

It will be Senator Evans's first visit to the Caribbean, where  12 of the Commonwealth's 50 members are located.

Senator Evans will lead Australia's delegation to the Forty-  Sixth Session of the United Nations General Assembly in New  York from 22-27 September.

The Forty-Sixth Session of UNGA will select a new UN

Secretary-General and comes at a vital and challenging time  for the United Nations.

Senator Evans said that in the post-Gulf War environment and  after the dramatic changes in the Soviet Union and Eastern  Europe, the UN could be expected to play a more prominent role  on key global security, economic, social and humanitarian

issues.

Australia's objectives at UNGA 46 included strengthening the  nuclear non-proliferation regime, adoption of resolutions  establishing a global arms transfer register, expressing  concern over human rights violations in Burma and establishing  a global moratorium on driftnet fishing in 1992.

Australia would also lobby for the election of the Foreign  Minister of Papua New Guinea, Sir Michael Somare, as President  of UNGA 46.

In New York, Senator Evans will also deliver a major address  to the Asia Society on 25 September on the topic "Dealing with  Asia: National Interest and Democratic Rights".

On 27 September in St Louis, Senator Evans will deliver an  address to the Australian-American Chamber of Commerce and the  World Affairs Council and will hold discussions with business  leaders, as part of "Australia Week 1991". *  * *

CANBERRA

