Laotian Premier Kaysone Phomvihan arrived in Moscow for an official visit on Tuesday (20 April) at the head of government and party delegation.

Mr. Phomvihan and his delegation were met at the airport by Soviet Premier Alexei Kosygin and Foreign Minister Andrei Gromyko. The Soviet Communist Party was represented in the welcoming committee by politburo member Mikhail Suslov.

Mr. Phomvihan, who is also Secretary-General of the Lao People's Revolutionary (Communist) Party, stopped off briefly in the Soviet central Asian city of Tashkent on his way to Moscow.

The Laotian Premier, who was educated in Hanoi, headed his party's delegation to the Soviet Communist Party Congress earlier this year. Afterwards, he paid a visit to Peking during which China and Laos signed an economic and technical agreement.

Since it became a Republic last December, Laos has leaned heavily towards North Vietnam and the Soviet Union for inspiration and support, although the agreement with China was seen at the time as strengthening Peking's hand with the Laotians.