Phnom Penh: India on November 6 extended a $ 10 million line of credit to Cambodia and signed three agreements with the South East Asian country to enhance trade, establish co-operation in technical education and carry out maintenance of the 1,000- year-old Tam Pram Temple.

The accord on the line of credit was initiated by External Affairs Minister Yashwant Sinha and Cambodia Finance Minister Kaat Chhoom shortly before Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee left Phnom Penh for Laos for a two-day bilateral visit.

Vajpayee, who was in Cambodia to attend the first India-ASEAN (Association of South East Asian Nations) summit, held wide-ranging parleys with his Cambodian counterpart Hun Sen to boost bilateral co-operation in varied fields.

The agreements were signed in the presence of the two Prime Ministers.

An accord on mutual trade co-operation was signed by Sinha and Cambodian Commerce Minister Chan Prasit while another on co-operation between Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Mumbai and Cambodian Institute of Technology was reached between Mumbai IIT director Ashok Mishra and his counterpart Im Sethy, officials said.

India would also protect and maintain the Tam Pram Temple in the city of Siem Reap, which houses the world's largest temple Angkor Vat. An agreement to this effect was initiated by Indian Ambassador P K Kapoor and director general of Apsara organisation, which has been carrying out Temple maintenance work in Cambodia.

In a symbolic gesture, Vajpayee gifted to Hun Sen a bag of rice signifying the consignment of 10,000 tonnes of the foodgrain which is being sent to Cambodia from India. India is also expected to gift water-pumps to Cambodia, one of the least developed countries in ten-nation ASEAN.

PTI