Vice President Addresses at Council of Ministers in Phnom Penh, Cambodia
Vice President Addresses at Council of Ministers in Phnom Penh, Cambodia
Following is the text of the address by the
Vice President of India Shri M. Hamid Ansari at the Council of Ministers in
Phnom Penh, Cambodia today:
“Excellency Mr. Sok An, Deputy Prime Minister
of Kingdom of Cambodia,
Ladies and gentlemen,
This is my first visit to your beautiful
country and though I have spent only about a day so far here, I am deeply
struck by the friendship and affection for India and Indians among the
Cambodian people.
Perhaps such amity and warmth is natural
given our cultural linkages.
We share the common heritage of Buddhism and
the philosophy of compassion, tolerance and non-violence.
Our shared legacy is reflected in the
religious and cultural ties that bind us. Hinduism and Buddhism spread out
across Asia from India. The structures at Angkor Wat, Angkor Thom, Bayon and
other historical sites bear testimony to the flourishing exchanges and cultural
synthesis between our peoples.
The waters of sister rivers - Ganga and
Mekong - sustain our cultures. The centrality of rivers in our civilization
gives us shared traits, ethos and sensibilities.
Our exchanges and cultural flows were
disrupted in the period of colonialism. After India won her independence in
1947, we have made a conscious effort to re-engage with our brothers and
sisters in South East Asia.
Our early political cooperation in the
Non-Aligned Forum and the re-invigoration of our relationship since 1981,
provide us with a strong and much trusted base upon which a towering edifice of
friendship can now be built.
We have a similar world view. We share many
challenges and have the same opportunities of growth ahead of us. Our shared
socio-economic compulsions make for a strong case of cooperation- particularly
in the economic development of each other.
The Cambodia I see today has transformed
itself in the last two decades. Emerging from a period of strife and
disturbance, the Cambodian nation today is stable and peaceful with a growing
economy and is playing its rightful role in the region.
This is an inspiring story.
The desire and efforts of the Government of
Cambodia to continue on the path of economic progress and work towards social
uplift of its peoples is deeply appreciated in India.
We, in India, also have similar objectives.
My visit provides an opportunity to convey to people of Cambodia, the deep
commitment of the Government and People of India to the enduring friendship and
co-operation between our two nations.
Our cooperation is for mutual benefits and is
guided by the requirements and priorities of the people and Government of
Cambodia. As countries where agriculture plays an important role in the
national life, we understand the need for harnessing and utilization of the
abundant water resources that your country is blessed with. Development of
water resources is a mutually identified area of cooperation and in future also
we would continue working with the Cambodian Government in this area.
Cambodia, like India, has a young population.
In order to address the aspirations of our youth, we have embarked upon a
strong skill development programme in India.
We have a partnership with Cambodia for
capacity building, as well as several training and educational programmes. I am
very happy to learn that a large number of Cambodians have benefitted from
these. The Entrepreneurship Development Center established in Phnom Penh with
Indian assistance has been contributing fruitfully to this end. We would look
forward to strengthening and augmenting the facilities there.
We have also enhanced our cooperation with
Cambodia under the Mekong-Ganga Cooperation Initiative. I am informed that the
Asian Traditional Textiles Museum in Siem Reap which showcases our collective
cultural heritage has been successfully built with Indian assistance.
In my meeting today with Prime Minister Hun
Sen, I have conveyed the decision of Government of India to support several
projects under Mekong Ganga Cooperation programme targeting the health sector,
agriculture and women's empowerment. We hope that these projects would
benefit local communities, and contribute to improvement of public welfare. ‘
The temples at Angkor are a reflection of our
shared cultural heritage. We are very proud of our association in the
restoration of historical heritage of Angkor Wat temple complex as well as
other sites. We have recently completed major restoration project at Ta Prohm
temples and look forward to starting a new phase of restoration there soon.
Given our close cultural ties and
civilizational links, we see a strong potential for tourism to develop between
our two countries. Happily, we have been able to sign this morning a Memorandum
of Understanding to enhance tourism. I amhopeful that this will boost tourist
exchanges.
Our shared world view is reflected in our
close cooperation on regional and international issues. We in Indiavalue
greatly the support that Cambodia has extended to us in the ASEAN-India
context. It was for us a matter of pride that Cambodia in 2002 hosted the first
India-ASEAN Summit. We greatly appreciate Cambodia's support to our initiatives
including our efforts to reform the UN, make it more representative and secure
for India the permanent membership of the Security Council.
Since 1991, India has assiduously followed a
Look East policy. This policy emanates from a realization that our economic
progress and well being is intimately linked to the growth and prosperity of
the entire Asian continent, especially of our friends across the Bay of Bengal
and Andaman Sea.
In recent months we have enhanced our
engagement in the East. This was reflected in Prime Minister Narendra Modi
remarks last year in the India—ASEAN summit at Nay Pyi Taw in Myanmar: “India’s
‘Look East Policy’ has become ‘Act East Policy’. A rapidly developing India and
ASEAN can be great partners for each other. We are both keen to enhance our
cooperation in advancing balance, peace and stability in the region”.
The current economic relationship between
India and ASEAN countries presents a multitude of industrial, commercial, and
investment opportunities. India has welcomed ASEAN’s plans to establish
economic and political relationships with neighboring nations, and India and
ASEAN have increasingly supported bilateral trade, promoted foreign investment,
and strengthened diplomatic relations.
Even among our ASEAN partners, Cambodia, Lao
People’s Democratic Republic, Myanmar and Vietnam, which form the CLMV
countries, are of particular interest to India. These countries include some of
the fastest growing economies in the region, are primarily agrarian, and have
enjoyed certain degree of macroeconomic stability in recent years, with vast
potential for future development.
This creates strong complementary interests
between Indiaand the countries in the region on the basis of a tripod:
Commerce, Culture and Connectivity. These are sustained by more frequent political
exchanges. The India – ASEAN relations are thus poised to scale new heights.
My visit to Cambodia underscores the
importance India attaches to Cambodia as part of our increasing engagement with
the region. Geographically, Cambodia lies at the heart of ASEAN. For us in
India, our relationship with Cambodia is a key element of our engagement with
ASEAN. We look forward to Cambodia’s strong support in building bridges and
deepening of our relationship with the entire region.
We need to delineate more precisely the
contours of our relationship in the coming years. Our glorious past and shared
cultural ties create a strong platform for cooperation in the future. Despite
extremely cordial political relations the diverse areas of cooperation, our bilateral
trade and investments remains much below its potential. Cambodia has maintained
a growth of 7% in the last few years. Your Government is also undertaking
policies to further attract investments and broad base the economy. The recent
launch of the new Industrial Policy is a step in that direction. In India too
the economy is back on an upward trajectory and we hope to maintain good
economic growth in the foreseeable future.
These trends provide us a very good basis to
strengthen our economic ties. Government of India has made clear its intention
to partner Cambodia in its economic development. As part of our initiatives,
the Government has recently set-up a Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) to attract
Indian investments into Cambodia and other CLMV countries. We hope to launch
this new initiative soon and I am confident that in the near future more Indian
companies will explore the investment opportunities here.
There is good scope for sharing experiences
for mutual benefit between our two countries. Agriculture and agro processing
sector, mining, oil and gas and small and medium enterprises offers
opportunities for trade and investment by Indian business houses and it will be
our endeavor to encourage our companies and businesses to explore the emerging
opportunities in these areas. For this, we look forward to support not only
from Government of Cambodia but businesses here.
Another area is defence cooperation. India is
happy to have been involved in training efforts for the Cambodian defence
forces. We will continue and enhancethese training efforts.
The spreading tide of extremism and terrorism
is a threat we both face. Successfully dealing with such threats requires
strong cooperation among like-minded partners. I am glad that we have taken
some steps to institutionalize cooperation in this area. We will continue to
pursue more regular exchanges between our security personnel.
Allow me to conclude by asserting that as two
of the fastest growing economies in the world, the potential of our joint
efforts to enhance our bilateral trade and investment, our collaboration in
science and technology, our co-operation in human resource development and, of
course, our cultural exchanges, is boundless.
As India embarks on the new phase of its Act
East Policy, and as Cambodia prepares for successfully integrating economically
in to the ASEAN Community, we hope to work with our Cambodian partners to
realize this potential.
Thank You.”
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