Manmohan Singh meets Cambodian PM, assures him of India's assistance

Bali (Indonesia), Nov. 18 (ANI): Indian Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh met Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen on the sidelines of the 19th Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Summit here on Friday, and assured him of New Delhi's continued cooperation and assistance.

Briefing mediapersons after the meeting, Secretary (East) in the Ministry of External Affairs, Sanjay Singh, said: "The third meeting that PM had was with Prime Minister Hun Sen, who visited India in 2007. They discussed bilateral cooperation. As you know India has assisted in setting up entrepreneurship development centres, it is helping with water resources management, information technology, English language training etc."

"PM especially thanked Cambodia, which has been the ASEAN coordinator for India and would be doing this leading up to the commemorative year next year, which would mark the 20th anniversary of our dialogue, partnership with ASEAN and the tenth anniversary of our summit level partnership with ASEAN. They also discussed the programme for the commemorative year," he added.

Sanjay Singh further said Prime Minister Hun Sen expressed his gratitude to India for assisting in the renovation of the Ta Prohm temple.

"Prime Minister Hun Sen expressed that he was grateful for India's assistance in various areas, including in the renovation of the Ta Prohm Temple. PM assured him of continued cooperation and assistance," said Singh.

Ta Prohm is the modern name of a temple at Angkor, Siem Reap Province, Cambodia, built in the Bayon style largely in the late 12th and early 13th centuries and originally called Rajavihara. According to reports, India has offered technical assistance, materials and 5.5 million dollars to Cambodia for the restoration of the 12th century temple at the Angkor Wat site.

"Another issue, which came up was possibility of direct flight connectivity between the two countries and the promotion of tourism," he added.

The India Prime Minister had earlier in the day met United States President Barack Obama and Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao. By Smita Prakash ANI)