CONFIDENTI AL
CALL ON THE MINISTER OF STATE FOR FOREIGN AND COMMONWEALTH AFFAIRS BY THE SOUTH VIETNAMESE FOREIGN MINISTER AT THE FOREIGN AND COMMONWEALTH OFFICE ON THURSDAY, JULY AT 12 NOON
Present
Mr R Hattersley MP
R
Mr CW Squire
Mr I J Rawlinson
1.
RECEIVED
No 52 12 JUL 1974
NKK14/5
HE hr Vuong Van Bac
HE Mr Pham Dang Lam
Mr Hattersley welcomed the Foreign Minister on behalf of the Secretary of State and regretted that Lord Goronwy-Roberts had been suddenly called away from London.
2. Mr Hattersley said the Prime Minister had asked that his thanks be conveyed to President Thieu for his recent letter and confirmed our full support for the Paris Agreement. We welcomed the President's wish to see serious negotiations between the parties resumed and enquired how this might develop. Mr Bac said President Thieu was keen to see the political dialogue established, since so far little progress had been achieved. The South Vietnamese side had made a number of proposals; he himself had been authorised by the President to offer to meet the Foreign Minister of North Vietnam. He had tried twice, but so far there had been no positive response from the other side. wished to meet his counterpart in Hanoi because the key to a peaceful solution was there. He wanted to establish what could be done to lessen the tension and to reach a situation in which South Vietnam could begin to demobilise part of its armed forces.
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3. Mr Hattersley said there must be better ways of spending scarce resources than on maintaining large standing armies in the area. enquired about the current level of hostilities. Mr Bac said that hostilities were definitely below the level prior to the ceasefire and at the time of the general offensive of 1972. But there were from time to time fierce battles, for instance the current fighting at Ben Cat where the North Vietnamese were using tanks and artillery, The North Vietnamese capability for a general offensive was still there though whether or not to launch one was for a separate decision. estimated the North Vietnamese had some 300,000 troops in the South at the time of the ceasefire and that subsequent infiltration had brought these forces up to 400,000 fully equipped with heavy weapons
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CONFIDENTIAL
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