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Vajpayee arrives in Cambodia for
India-ASEAN summit

Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee on Monday arrived in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, to attend the first-ever summit between India and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations.

Vajpayee is expected to discuss with leaders of the ten-member grouping prospects of a free trade area and an ASEAN Integration Initiative.

During his three-day stay in Phnom Penh, he is expected to meet Chinese and Japanese Premiers Zhu Rongji and Junichiro Koizumi, who will attend the summit as dialogue partners.

In the backdrop of the attack in Bali, the prime minister will lay stress on terrorism, official sources said.

External Affairs Minister Yashwant Sinha and National Security Adviser Brajesh Mishra are accompanying Vajpayee, who had visited Cambodia in April this year.

The prime minister will attend a dinner on Monday night hosted by King Norodom Sihanouk. All heads of state taking part in the summit will be there.

He will hold bilateral talks with Cambodian Premier Hun Sen on November 6.

ASEAN, which has a turnover of $1 trillion, comprises Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam, Myanmar, Brunei, Cambodia and Laos.

India, the United States, Russia, China, Japan, South Korea and Australia are among the dialogue partners.

Vajpayee is also scheduled to meet Indonesian President Meghawati Sukarnoputri.

A major focus of the summit will be bolstering Indo-ASEAN economic cooperation, besides promoting Indian investment in human resource development, information technology and railways in Southeast Asia and the Far East.

He will also go to neighbouring Laos on a two-day visit. The last Indian prime minister to visit that country was Jawaharlal Nehru in 1954.

At Vientiane, the prime minister will hold bilateral talks and sign certain agreements. Besides meeting the Indian community there, he will inaugurate an exhibition of Madhubani paintings. Setting up of a textile museum will also be discussed.

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