From the standpoint of international Communism, Laos
must be regarded as an extension of North Vietnam. As an
integral component of the old Indo-China Communist party,
the Laotian Communists in 1951 formally recognized the right
of the Lao Dong party to "supervise" its activities. Military
invasion of Laos by the Viet Minh in 1953 enabled the
Pathet Lao to develop strong guerrilla forces, establish a
"resistance government," and gain control over the two northern
provinces of Phong Saly and Sam Neua adjoining the borders
of both North Vietnam and Communist China. The acquisition
of an effective military force and of a fixed territorial
base adjacent to North Vietnam (serving both as a sanctuary
in times of retreat and as a base of operations in times of
advance) has shaped the entire course of Laotian history from
that time to the present. The additional factor of a powerful
Communist China as a "close neighbor," as Peiping is
fond of stressing, was to make "peaceful coexistence" a much
more formidable strategy in Laos than in South Vietnam.
The Geneva agreements also facilitated the Communist
cause in Laos, permitting the Pathet Lao to occupy "regroupment
areas" in the two northern provinces until an internal
political settlement had been reached. Confronted internally
by a Viet Minh-directed armed insurrection and externally by
strong pressures exerted by both Peiping and Hanoi, the Laot
ian government under Prime Minister Souvanna Phouma decided
in the spring of 1956 to seek a negotiated settlement with
the Pathet Lao.
Peiping took the lead in proposing a negotiated settlement
in Laos despite initial objections by the DRV, which in
turn had to overcome similar opposition by the Pathet Lao.
During the protracted negotiations leading up to the November