Vajpayee heads to S'pore, Cambodia to boost ties

Vajpayee heads to S'pore, Cambodia to boost ties

Agence France-Presse, New Delhi

Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee left on Sunday for Singapore and Cambodia in a trip seen here as a landmark move to bolster India's warming ties with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) grouping.

Senior Indian officials said Vajpayee will hold "substantial talks" with leaders of the two nations during his five-day trip.

They said discussions will also focus on ways to broadbase ties in sectors such as tourism, aviation and telecommunications.

"India is looking forward to enhancing its level of dialog with ASEAN and establishing a credible and respectable engagement with its members as part of its 'look-east' policy," a foreign ministry official said.

India in 1996 became a full dialog partner of ASEAN, which groups Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.

Vajpayee was accompanied by a delegation comprising captains of Indian industry and others, the officials said.

The Indian leader, who canceled a trip to Singapore last October because of tensions with arch-rival Pakistan, will meet Singaporean President S. R. Nathan and Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong for talks on a comprehensive package to boost investments in India.

New Delhi, besides seeking better business ties with Singapore and ASEAN, is also hoping to garner greater support from the 10- nation regional club for its campaign against cross-border Muslim militancy from its nuclear foe, Pakistan.

On the eve of Vajpayee's two-nation tour his cabinet on late Saturday reviewed the situation on India's militarized borders with Pakistan.

The two South Asian adversaries, who have fought three wars since 1947, have deployed thousands of troops along their borders since an attack in December on the parliament in New Delhi, which India blames on two Pakistan-based Islamic guerrilla organizations.