Phnom Penh: Giving an Indian touch to a banquet hosted for Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee and leaders attending the first-ever Indo-ASEAN (Association of South East Asian Nations) summit, music from Raj Kapoor's film 'Aawara' was played before the august audience.

In a rare gesture, Cambodian King Norodom Sihanouk and Queen Monineath sang songs in English, French, Malay and Filipino languages.

"The banquet was really different. There was bonhomie and it was not the usual formal affair. The King and the Queen sang eight songs in English, French, Malay and Filipino languages," Indian officials said on November 5.

Japanese Premier Junichiro Koizumi and Indonesian President Megawati Sukarnoputri were seated by the side of Vajpayee at the dinner.

Cambodia and nine other ASEAN countries are attaching special significance to the Prime Minister's visit with the Cambodian Foreign Minister Hor Namhong saying, "Economic potential is enormous and the first summit today with India will bring its member nations closer to the market of one billion people."

Cambodia's only English daily 'Cambodian Daily' said quoting Namhong, "This is one reason why Cambodia supports the idea of a summit with India."

He said it was Prime Minister Hun Sen who was the first to suggest the idea of a summit two years back, but a consensus among ASEAN members could not be reached until last year's summit in Brunei.

The highest selling vernacular daily 'Resmei Kampuchea Daily' said, "The Prime Minister of India has created a historic event for Cammbodia-India-ASEAN relations."

Earlier, at a reception hosted by Indian Ambassador P K Kapoor, Bharatnatyam exponent Saroja Vaidyanatham performed dances on Mahabharata and Ramayana.

PTI