S.E.A.T.O. PLANNING

Press, Volume C, Issue 29502, 2 May 1961, Page 14

S.E.A.T.O. PLANNING

“No Govt Committed” (N Z. Pres, Association) WELLINGTON, May 1. The planning staff of S.E.A.T.O. at Bangkok, with the full recognisance of the member governments, made plans for all sorts of eventualities, military and otherwise, but no government was committed to them, said the Prime Minister (Mr Holyoake), replying to questions on the Laos situation at his press conference tonight. Every government had the right to make its final decision as to whether its forces should be engaged and to what extent and how.

Mr Holyoake said that the eight members of S.E.A.T.O were pledged to protect the protocol states of Laos and South Vietnam if called upon to do so by those states. The Prime Minister agreed that a special meeting of S.E.A.T.O. had been held on Sunday at which New Zealand had been represented by Mr Charles Craw. It was a meeting of council representatives, which took place every few days and sometimes every day. “The danger is that on present military trends in Laos unless a cease fire is called at an early date, there will be little to negotiate about when the International Supervisory Commission begins its duties and the 14-nation conference is called,” said Mr Holyoake.