83. Editorial Note
The eighth Ministerial meeting of the Council of the Southeast Asia Treaty Organization (SEATO) was held in Paris, April 8-10, under the chairmanship of French Foreign Minister Maurice Couve de Murville. Secretary of State Dean Rusk led the United States delegation to the meeting. Rusk addressed the Council on April 8 and gave a guardedly optimistic assessment of developments in Vietnam: “In Viet-Nam, although the struggle has intensified since our 1961 meeting, the Viet Cong drive has been blunted, and there are some grounds for further encouragement. We believe that Viet-Nam has now found the right strategy for meeting the Viet Cong terrorism and is applying it with increasing vigor.”
The communique issued by the Council at the conclusion of the meeting on April 10 was similarly optimistic. The Council noted reports of considerable progress in the fight against subversion in Vietnam, and expressed the hope that “Viet-Nam, with the support given to it, would be in a position to maintain its advance towards internal stability and international security.” For texts of Rusk’s statement to the Council and the final communique, see American Foreign Policy: Current Documents, 1963, pages 729-733.