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But
currently discussing the return of the double-backers and the establishment of IMCs on Vietnamese soil. We hope that agreement on both will come quickly. If it does and the return of the double-backers is successful, a Ministerial visit in September would be entirely appropriate, setting the seal on current and future UK-Vietnam cooperation. if the chances of agreement on both issues by September is slim, or if the repatriation of double-backers goes badly, we would have to reconsider. In the former case, the Vietnamese would expect Lord Caithness to go with a remit to conclude an agreement, while in the latter he would be expected to repair any damage.
5. Setting aside the possible difficulties, HMA Hanoi would welcome a visit by Lord Caithness. But timing is important. Mr Williams goes on leave on 20 August and had planned not to return until about 5 October. He is happy to return earlier, but suggests that it would be helpful if Lord Caithness could visit Vietnam towards the end of September. He would also appreciate early confirmation that the visit will go ahead, preferably before he goes on leave.
I hope
can accommodate Mr Williams' request. His family arrangements for the summer have already been disrupted by an aborted proposal for Lord Caithness to visit Vietnam after the Heads of Mission Conference in Hong Kong.
6.
Mr Williams proposes an outline programme based on a four day visit from 21-25 September. He assumes that the Minister would go first to Ho Chi Minh City having travelled by road from Phnom Penh (although, subject to the Minister's views, this is difficult. See para 9 below).
Laos
Mr
7.
Although we have normal relations with Laos, they have no substance. Mr Melhuish encountered nothing but friendship and goodwill during a recent visit to Laos to host the Vientiane Queen's Birthday Party. But there are underlying irritations: the Lao carp that we maintain an Embassy building in Vientiane and insist on certain diplomatic privileges (such as registration for a Land Rover), while covering the country on a non-residential basis with, at best, sporadic visits from Bangkok. Melhuish comments that Lao Ministers have little expectation of assistance from us; and the ODA confirm that they are not considering any form of assistance to Laos and cannot contemplate channelling hard-pressed resources in that direction. The Lao misinterpreted the visit of the Duke of Gloucester in October 1990 in his capacity as President of the British Consultants Bureau as a political act, presaging greater things, including money. Mr Melhuish strongly
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