India-Cambodia summit meeting on Saturday
New Delhi : Prime Minister Narendra Modi will hold a bilateral summit meeting with his Cambodian counterpart Hun Sen here on Saturday, the External Affairs Ministry said on Friday.
“Tomorrow, Cambodia’s Prime Minister Hun Sen, who is here with a large delegation, will be on a State visit,” Preeti Saran, Secretary (East) in the Ministry of External Affairs, said at a media briefing here.
External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj will call on Hun Sen on Saturday morning following which Prime Minister Narendra Modi will hold delegation-level talks with the Cambodian leader.
Hun Sen will also call on President Ram Nath Kovind and Vice President Venkaiah Naidu on Saturday.
Hun Sen arrived here on Wednesday to attend the Commemorative Summit hosted by India on Thursday to mark 25 years of the India-Asean Dialogue Partnership.
The Cambodian leader was among the 10 Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) Heads of State or government who attended Friday’s Republic Day celebrations here as guests of honour, a first in the history of independent India.
The Asean comprises Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam.
India is a major developmental aid partner for Cambodia and has so far extended lines of credit totalling $65.20 million to the Southeast Asian nation for water development and transmission line projects.
India-Cambodia trade basket is small and stood at a little over $153 million in 2016, according to figures provided by the External Affairs Ministry.
Hun Sen last visited India in 2012 to participate in the Commemorative Summit to mark the 20th anniversary of the India-Asean Dialogue Partnership, during the course of which he held a bilateral summit with then Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.
—IANS