The Hindu : India, Cambodia sign pacts

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, Apr 10, 2002

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India, Cambodia sign pacts

By Amit Baruah

The Prime Minister, Atal Behari Vajpayee, being welcomed by his Cambodian counterpart, Samdech Hun Sen, at Pochentong International Airport in Phnom Penh on Tuesday. — PTI

PHNOM PENH April 9. The Prime Minister, Atal Behari Vajpayee, who arrived in Phnom Penh on the second-leg of his foreign tour, held talks with the Cambodian Prime Minister, Hun Sen, this evening. His is the first visit by an Indian Prime Minister since Jawaharlal Nehru was here way back in 1954.

Three agreements — one on the conservation and restoration of the Ta Prohm temple near Angkor Vat, an air services pact and a third on visa exemption for diplomatic and official passport holders — were signed in the presence of the Prime Ministers after the talks.

India was willing to send a judge to participate in a possible tribunal to prosecute the Khmer Rouge leaders for the genocide in Cambodia, Mr. Vajpayee said.

The Ta Prohm agreement, under which the Archaeological Survey of India will take up the job of conservation and restoration, will entail a project cost of about Rs. 25 crores over a period of 10-12 years.

On a $10-million credit line, which has been under discussion between Cambodia and India for some time, the Indian side said the process for granting of the credit on the terms suggested by Cambodia had been completed. ``The Cambodians will inform India shortly for what project(s) they would like to use the credit.''

At a joint press conference along with the Cambodian Prime Minister, Mr. Vajpayee said Cambodia had supported India's stand on the Kashmir issue. ``We discussed the problem of terrorism also. We decided that the civilised world has to fight against terrorism,'' he said, adding that the Cambodian Government was supportive of a permanent seat for India at the United Nations. ``My discussions with Prime Minister Hun Sen today were warm and cordial. We exchanged views on our excellent political relationship. We discussed in detail measures to tap more fully the potential for our economic cooperation,'' Mr. Vajpayee said. ``Prime Minister Hun Sen and I agreed that our two countries should sustain a regular high-level dialogue, including exchanges of visits. I have invited Prime Minister Hun Sen to make a state visit to India and he had kindly accepted the invitation,'' Mr. Vajpayee said.

Asked if there was a deadline for the Cambodian Government to set up a tribunal to try the Khmer Rouge offenders, Mr. Hun Sen said the deadline approach was not appropriate for his country. A number of countries were still trying to bring the United Nations round, which had rejected the idea of setting up a mixed U.N.-Cambodian tribunal earlier this year. While there was no deadline to set up the tribunal, Cambodia could not wait endlessly. Speaking at a banquet hosted by Mr. Hun Sen in his honour, Mr. Vajpayee said: ``It is truly inspiring to see that the killing fields of just a few years ago have been transformed into an independent, stable and peaceful country, confidently playing an active role in the region and the world.''

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