Whereupon, a conference was organized on July 20 in Geneva (Switzerland) to end hostilities between the French Army and the People's Army of Vietnam, ending eight years of war in Indochina. By the same occasion, the independence of Laos and Cambodia was reaffirmed. At the conference, the Kingdom of Laos delegation was composed of Phoui Sananikone (minister of Foreign Affairs – leader), Kou Voravong (Minister of Defense – vice-leader) and eight members of Parliament. The members of Pathet Lao including Chao Souphanouvong, who carried North-Vietnamese passports, were integrated into the Việt Minh delegation. The final declaration of the Geneva Agreements provided for Laos:  Whereas all details of the cease-fire in Vietnam were settled, the agreement #3 which was equivalent to a recognition of the Pathet Lao as an official authority through its « Fighting Units », divided the royal representatives of the Laotian delegation and extended negotiations till late in the night of July 20. Shortly after midnight, despite the opinion of his delegation's leader, Phoui Sananikone, Kou Voravong finally granted to sign the final declaration, thereby closing the conference on July 21, 1954. In spite of significant concessions of the Pathet Lao, politically -[recognition of the Government of Vientiane]- as well as military -[withdrawals of the armed forces of the liberated zones and their grouping in Xam Neua (Houaphanh) and Phongsali Provinces] – their official establishment next to the Lao Royal Government pending elections was far from eliciting unanimity. This was particularly true for the U.S. government which refused to sign and to apply the Geneva Agreements, considering that they handed a too large victory to the Indochinese Liberation Movements, headed by the Việt Minh, and supported by China and the Soviet Union. The spectrum of the Korean War just ended is still too present, that's why Washington's policy goal from now on, was to challenge the results of such agreements. On September 8, 1954, at the initiative of the United States, a military organization SEATO was created. Equivalent of NATO in Southeast Asia, its official goal was to form a "quarantine line" against Communist expansion. It was decided by the authority that Cambodia, and Laos, considering their strategical position, belonged automatically to its protection zone. The defense minister Kou Voravong, supporter of strict application of the Geneva Agreements on the principle of neutrality prohibiting any military alliance, declined the protection of his country by the SEATO and refused to ratify the treaty, thereby blocking the American policy of containment towards the Communist expansion in Asia.