This account of a meeting held on the 15th August 1972 between Geoffrey Ripon and General Amin shows the difficulties in pursuing diplomatic relations between Uganda and the UK at the time of the expulsion of the Ugandan Asians. (FCO 89/10 f.12)
Transcript
General Amin said that he would like to make three points:
1. The Asians must go as soon as possible;
2. If the British Government sabotaged the economy of Uganda he would not be happy. He had been listening to the B.B.C. and reading the newspapers and was aware of what was going on:
3. If all went well, this would strengthen his country’s relationship with the United Kingdom.
Mr Rippon said that we had no wish to sabotage the Ugandan economy; we traded with Uganda and therefore wanted her economy to be as strong as possible. This demonstrated why he had said they must stop talking by radio. The press often got things wrong and decisions are not for them but for Governments.