The 11-nation Asian and Pacific conference on Cambodia ended today (May 17, Jakarta) with the setting up of a “task force” of the Foreign Ministers of Indonesia, Malaysia and Japan to initiate action by the United Nations and other countries for an effective solution to the Cambodian situation. The conference, attended by Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, Laos, South Vietnam, the Philippines, South Korea. Japan, Australia and New Zealand, besides Indonesia, urged in a joint communique that “all foreign troops be withdrawn from Cambodia and hostilities be stopped” and also that all parties respect the sovereignty, neutrality and territorial integrity of Cambodia. Towards this end the members of the 1954 Geneva conference and all interested parties were urged to hold talks to convene an early international conference “to find a just, peaceful and effective solution” to the Cambodian situation. The Foreign Ministers who participated in the conference decided to place their views before the United Nations and apprise all UN members of the gravity of the situation.
