§ Q9. Mr. P. Noel-Bakerasked the Prime Minister whether he will propose to President Johnson that a conference should be called in Geneva in the very early future to consider the situation in Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam.
§ The Prime MinisterNo, Sir. Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam are entirely separate cases, and the conference proposed by the Cambodian Government is intended to deal with Cambodian problems only.
§ Mr. Noel-BakerCan the Prime Minister tell us more about President Johnson's statement at his Press conference that he would sympathetically consider the neutralisation of Vietnam if it included both north and south? Since Britain has very important political and economic interests in this area, 1397 will the right hon. Gentleman take some initiative to secure an end to the disastrous fighting in South Vietnam and to bring real neutrality to Cambodia and Laos?
§ The Prime MinisterThe right hon. Gentleman will know full well that the first thing that would have to be done before Vietnam could be made neutral and unaligned would be to stop the continuous infiltration of Communist forces from North Vietnam.
§ Mr. BrockwayThe right hon. Gentleman has said that Cambodia and Vietnam are different problems. Is it not the case that the delay in calling the Geneva Powers together to consider Cambodia is very largely influenced by the situation in Vietnam?
§ The Prime MinisterI do not think so. I would rather like notice of that question. There are other matters which have to be considered, such as the relations between Cambodia and Thailand as well as South Vietnam.
Mr. H. WilsonCan the Prime Minister say whether he agreed with the recent statement of the Foreign Secretary about the desirability of neutralisation of the countries of South-East Asia, and whether he urged this proposal on President Johnson when he was in Washington?
§ The Prime MinisterDesirability is one thing; the way to achieve it is another. As I said to the right hon. Member for Derby, South (Mr. P. Noel-Baker), as long as there is continuous infiltration by armed members of North Vietnam into South Vietnam, neutrality is impossible.
§ Mr. Noel-BakerIs there any hope of stopping that infiltration except by some new arrangement which will cover all these territories together? Does the Prime Minister recall that the status of all three was, in fact, dealt with by the conference of 1954?
§ The Prime MinisterNot only is there very serious infiltration into South Vietnam from North Vietnam, but also there is increasingly serious infiltration from North Vietnam into Laos. Our whole efforts are being directed to stop this, but it is Communist directed and very difficult to do.