In 1967, the Portuguese Foreign Minister spoke of relations with Malawi as ‘that kind of mutual respect which ensures good neighbourliness, cordial relations and constructive cooperation’1. Yet, throughout the ten-year period from July 1964 to September 1974, the dominant political issue in Southern Africa had been the armed struggle for political rights between African liberation movements and the white-minority régimes. Within this context, the boundary between Malawi and Portuguese East Africa became part of the dividing line where the independent black African states met the white-dominated régimes. This article seeks to explore the pressures for both conflict and cooperation which were continuously being felt by Malawi and Portugal. Despite their substantial ideological differences over where political power should reside, both countries were drawn together because of their geography, Malawi being dependent upon the transportation facilities in Mozambique for an outlet to the Indian Ocean.