NEW DELHI: India will roll out the red carpet for Cambodia’s King Norodom Sihamoni, who will be making his maiden state visit to the country next week to mark the culmination of celebrations for the 70th anniversary of diplomatic ties.
A day after his arrival in New Delhi, the King will be accorded a ceremonial welcome at the Rashtrapati Bhavan on May 30 and President Droupadi Murmu will host a state banquet in his honour the same evening.
The king will also have bilateral meetings with the president, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, vice president Jagdeep Dhankhar and external affairs minister S Jaishankar.
The state visit marks the culmination of celebrations marking the 70th anniversary of diplomatic ties established between India and Cambodia in 1952. The visit also comes almost six decades after a visit by the current king’s father in 1963.
“India and Cambodia enjoy warm and friendly relations marked by civilisational, cultural and economic linkages and deep-rooted people-to-people ties,” the external affairs ministry said.
“The multifaceted relationship is based on shared cultural values, commitment to foster economic growth, collaboration in the fields of defence and security and convergence on regional and global issues,” it said.
India actively assists Cambodia in capacity building and human resource development through training slots under the Indian Technical and Economic Cooperation (ITEC) programme and scholarships under Indian Council for Cultural Relations (ICCR). India has also extended grants and concessional loans to Cambodia for developmental projects.
Conservation and restoration of the ancient temples of Angkor Wat, Ta Prohm and Preah Vihar are being carried out under funding from the Indian government.
India has extended to Cambodia a grant of $1.5 million for purchasing demining equipment and a line of credit worth $50 million for procuring defence equipment . Customised training courses are conducted for Cambodian Army personnel in India and mobile training teams of the Indian Army have been deployed to Cambodia for training Cambodian army personnel.
Trade between the two countries during fiscal 2023-23 was worth $366 million and is growing. Indian investments in Cambodia are estimated at about $115 million, with the major sectors being pharmaceuticals, automobiles and mining.
The forthcoming visit of King Norodom Sihamoni will “further strengthen and deepen the civilisational relations between India and Cambodia”, the external affairs ministry said.
