The Hindu : Front Page : India-ASEAN summit put off

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Sunday, Apr 12, 2009
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India-ASEAN summit put off

P.S. Suryanarayana

Leaders evacuated after pro-Thaksin protesters storm venue

— Photo: AFP

Protesters loyal to ex-premier Thaksin Shinawatra storm the venue of the 14th Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Summit and Related Summits after smashing a window, in Pattaya, some 180 km southeast of Bangkok, on Saturday.

SINGAPORE: A planned summit between India and the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) was on Saturday postponed, amid chaotic scenes unrelated to them. Union Commerce and Industry Minister Kamal Nath and other leaders were safely evacuated from the venue at the resort town of Pattaya in Thailand.

Mr. Nath was there to represent Prime Minister Manmohan Singh at the India-ASEAN meeting on Saturday and the East Asia Summit on Sunday.

Hundreds of protesters, demanding that Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva resign, invaded the venue, forcing him to call off a series of regional summits he was going to host. In an eyewitness account, a Northeast Asian diplomat told The Hindu over telephone that the security forces did not try to stop the storming. And, darting across the premises, the mob entered the media centre and made way to a room where the ASEAN+3 summit was scheduled. But the summit, involving the 10-nation trading bloc and China as also Japan and South Korea, was not in session. The diplomat said there were no signs of violence by the protesters at the conference venue, except for their forcible entry.

Soon thereafter, sections of the mob entered different hotels, where the Thai authorities had by now escorted the leaders to their rooms. From the hotels, most leaders were evacuated by helicopters to the nearby airport

Mr. Nath told The Hindu, before embarking for Delhi, that the leaders were confined to their rooms during the hotel siege.

However, the hosts ensured “adequate security” for the leaders. Mr. Abhisit had earlier invited them, around 1 p.m., to convey his decision to postpone all the summits. Mr. Nath, taking the special aircraft which brought him to Pattaya at the height of poll campaign, said India wanted to promote a solution from the East to the global economic crisis triggered by the West.

Ambassador Latha Reddy said all members of the Indian delegation remained “safe and sound” during the entire siege by Thai protesters.

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