§ 32. Mr. Warbeyasked the Lord Privy Seal whether he has now received a reply from the Soviet Government to his proposals regarding the reactivisation of the International Commission for Supervision and Control in Laos.
§ 36. Mr. Grimondasked the Lord Privy Seal if, in view of recent international developments, Her Majesty's Govern-will now consult the United States of America with a view to the reconvening of the Geneva Conference on Indo-China.
§ Mr. HeathNo reply has yet been received from the Soviet Government, though Her Majesty's Ambassador in Moscow has been informed that it will not be long delayed. Meanwhile, I do not think that it would be helpful to put forward other proposals.
§ Mr. WarbeyIs not the real difficulty in this matter the lack of agreement on the question to whom the International Commission shall be accredited? Can the right hon. Gentleman say what proposals were made on this point to the Soviet Government and, secondly, whether or not Prince Boun Oum has now accepted the idea that the Commission should be accredited to neither of the rival Governments but to the King?
§ Mr. HeathIn putting forward these proposals we did our utmost to reach the 388 point of view—as we understood it—of the other co-Chairman and the other countries concerned. That is why we took a certain amount of time to reach agreement on this point. We must now wait to see what reply the Soviet Government make, and to see whether they accept our proposals. As for the Government of Laos, they have said that when the proposal is put to them from the two co-Chairmen they will consider it.
§ 43. Mr. Healeyasked the Lord Privy Seal what protest he has made to the authorities in Laos regarding the false reports of large-scale intervention by foreign military units which they have circulated to members of the South East Asia Treaty Organisation.
§ Mr. HealeySurely this is a matter on which the Government should have made a formal protest? Is it not the case that the meeting of the S.E.A.T.O. Council was called in order to discuss the reports which have been circulated by the Laos authorities concerning foreign military intervention in Laos? Now that those authorities have admitted the reports to be completely false, are the Government going to do nothing whatever about it?
§ Mr. HeathNo, Sir. No such statements have been circulated by the Government of Laos to the S.E.A.T.O. Council. That is why we have not made any protest.
§ Mr. WarbeyWere not the statements taken up by the American State Department, issued as an official statement on which they said they had hard evidence and presented by them to the S.E.A.T.O. Council for action to be taken?
§ Mr. HeathA variety of statements have been made in the Far East about the situation in Laos and intervention. We have always made our own assessment as to how much truth there was in them.