No welcome ceremony sent Hun Sen back

New Delhi, July 11, 2007
Hindustan Times (India)

When Indian officials told the Cambodians that visiting Prime Minister Samdech Hun Sen could not be accorded an official welcome ceremony on the forecourt of Rashtrapati Bhavan on Monday, they decided to leave.

Officially, the reason offered was deference to the state mourning ordered for former Prime Minister Chandrashekhar, who died on Sunday. But, what really irked the high-powered Cambodian delegation was the lack of ceremony.

“Not cancelling the official banquet, not anything else,” an official source said. “What irked them was calling off the welcome ceremony,” which cannot be held under protocol regulations prescribed for a period of state mourning.

Hun Sen, who arrived in Delhi on Sunday on a three-day visit along with senior ministerial colleagues, was scheduled to meet Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Monday and sign agreements in areas ranging from energy to defence and trade.

External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee met the visiting Cambodian Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Hor Namhong, and offered to continue with all meetings except the ceremonial ones, but the visitors chose to return.

According to the spokesman for the Ministry of External Affairs, Navtej Sarna, the Cambodians said “it would not be proper on their part to continue with the visit,” as the major meetings were scheduled for the day of the former PM’s funeral.

Hun Sen left for Phnom Penh, after promising to return soon when fresh dates are worked out.

Hun Sen's passage to India

Cambodian Prime Minister Leaves For Official Visit To India

2007-07-08
AP

PHNOM PENH, CAMBODIA: Cambodia's Prime Minister Hun Sen left for an official four-day visit to India on Sunday (July 8th) in hopes of boosting ties, an official said.

Hun Sen will hold talks with his counterpart Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, and India's President A. P. J. Abdul Kalam.

Agreements on defense cooperation, the transfer of prisoners, and agriculture and water resource management are on the agenda, said Sri Thamrongk, an adviser to Hun Sen. A memorandum of understanding on petroleum cooperation is also expected to be discussed.

Sri Thamrongk said Hun Sen will also hold talks with more than 100 Indian businessmen to encourage them to invest in Cambodia.

Hun Sen and Nguyen Tan Dung take turn visiting India

Cambodian PM comes to India Sunday

July 8th, 2007
By Tarique
IANS

New Delhi : India and Cambodia are set to intensify economic, energy and cultural ties when Prime Minister Samdech Hun Sen comes here Sunday on a three-day state visit.

Foreign Minister Hor Namhong, Defence Minister Tea Banh and Commerce Minister Cham Prasidh will accompany Hun Sen in his first trip to India after seven years.

Building upon their historical and cultural ties, India and Cambodia, a member of ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations), are expected to sign a clutch of agreements in areas of energy, defence and culture.

An agreement on cooperation and technical assistance between the National Petroleum Authority of Cambodia and the Oil and Natural Gas Commission (ONGC) of India is likely to be signed in the presence of Hun Sen and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh Monday.

Agreements on prisoner exchange and defence cooperation are also expected to be signed.

India is involved in an array of developmental and human resource training projects in Cambodia like the Cambodia-India Entrepreneurship Development Centre and Museum of Traditional Asian Textiles.

India is a key provider of IT services to Cambodia and Indian companies are teaching Cambodians English at various centres.

Hun Sen also goes to Kolkata before heading back home Wednesday morning.

In the cultural arena, India has been in the forefront of helping Cambodia in conserving the Angkor Wat temple complex - hailed as a marvel of centuries-old Khmer culture that reveals a distinct imprint of Hindu traditions in the Buddhist nation.

New Delhi has also agreed to work on the conservation and restoration of Ta Prom, another temple complex in the Angkor Park area, at a cost of $5 million.

Hun Sen's visit underscores India's growing ties with ASEAN countries as it continues its diplomatic efforts to expand engagement with this region.

Hun Sen comes to India a day after Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung ended a three-day visit. Thai Prime Minister Surayud Chulanont visited India last month. That was preceded by External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee's trip to Singapore and the Philippines.

Hun Sen to talk about oil and defense with India

Cambodian Prime Minister to talk oil, defence in India

Jul 6, 2007
DPA

Phnom Penh - Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen is scheduled to leave for India to sign several agreements including cooperation and technical assistance on oil and natural gas, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said Friday.

The ministry said Hun Sen is scheduled to leave Sunday to conduct high-level talks and sign accords including one on cooperation and technical assistance between the National Petroleum Authority of Cambodia and the Oil and Natural Gas Commission of India.

A prisoner-exchange agreement is also scheduled to be signed, as well a pact on defence cooperation.

Hun Sen would also pay a courtesy call on Indian President Abdul Kalam and hold official talks with Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh during the three-day visit, scheduled to end Wednesday, the ministry said.

It said the delegation would also include Cambodian Foreign Minister Hor Namhong, Defense Minister Tea Banh and Commerce Minister Cham Prasidh.

India and Cambodia have strong ties dating back to India's 1954-73 chairmanship of the International Commissions of Control and Supervision established by the 1954 Geneva Accords on Indochina.

When much of the rest of the world continued to recognize the Khmer Rouge as the rightful government of Cambodia for years after its ousting by Vietnamese-backed troops in 1979, India almost immediately established diplomatic relations with the new Vietnamese-backed government in 1980 and has remained a trusted ally.

VN PM Nguyen Tan Dung visits India as Hun Sen is about to visit India also: a calculated coincidence?

July 5, 2007
PM begins state visit to India

VNA

Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung arrived at Kolkata airport in India's West Bengal on July 4, beginning his landmark to visit to the country.

After his arrival in the world's second most populated country, PM Dung, his wife and the high-level delegation accompanying them symbolically paid a floral tribute to a monument dedicated to Vietnam's President Ho Chi Minh that is located in the city.

Later that day, the Vietnamese Government leader met with West Bengal Governor Budhatdev Bhattcharya and a delegation of the India-Vietnam Friendship Association.

Bhattcharya said as a state rife with massive agriculture potential, West Bengal is eager to invest in aquaculture and milk processing projects in Vietnam. He then invited Vietnamese business executives who accompanied PM Dung to link up with the West Bengal Chamber of Commerce in sponsoring an annual trade fair in his state.

The Vietnamese leader went on to reiterate Vietnam’s policy to open its market for Indian businesses interested in investing in information technology and steel production.

During his meeting with a delegation of the India-Vietnam Friendship Association led by its chairman Geetesh Sharma, the Prime Minister expressed “A sense of deep gratitude from the Vietnamese Government and people for India’s valuable support during their struggle for national independence.”

“Vietnam will do its utmost to bring traditional relations between the two countries to new heights for the vested interest of the two nations as well as for peace and prosperity in the region,” said the PM.

Following the meeting, the PM attended a joint business forum that drew the participation of close to 300 Indian businesses in addition to the travelling 100 Vietnamese partners from his accompanying delegation.

At the discussion, he extended an invitation to India’s industrial giants to invest in areas that directly relate to their strengths and experiences such as information technology, electricity, petroleum, metallurgy, coal mining, transport, agriculture, fisheries, food processing and medicine.

PM Dung later witnessed a signing ceremony for a co-operation agreement between the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VCCI) and the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII).

Capping off a busy day, PM Dung then visited the Headquarters of the Tata Steel Group.

He told the company's executive board that he was eager to see a home grown entity such as Tata operating in Vietnam after the giant rolls out a steel complex in the central province of Ha Tinh.

Hun Sen to visit India on July 8-11

July 04, 2007
Cambodian PM to visit India on July 8-11

Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen will lead a delegation to pay a state visit to India from July 8 to 11, said a press release from the foreign ministry in Phnom Penh on Wednesday.

The delegation will include Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation Hor Namhong, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Defense Tea Banh, Senior Minister and Minister of Commerce Cham Prasidh and others, the press release said.

During the visit, Hun Sen will meet with Indian President Abdul Kalam and hold official talks with his counterpart Manmohan Singh, it said.

Both sides will sign an agreement on the transfer of the sentenced persons, a memorandum of understanding on foreign office consultation, an agreement on defense cooperation, a memorandum of understanding in the field of water resource management, a memorandum of understanding on cooperation and technical assistance between National Petroleum Authority of Cambodia and Oil and Natural Gas Commission of India and a work plan under memorandum of understanding on agriculture cooperation for 2007 and 2008, it added.

Source: Xinhua