US and Cambodia mark 60 years of bilateral ties
May 14, 2010ABC Radio Australia
The United States and Cambodia are celebrating 60 years of diplomatic ties this year. But it hasn't been six decades of smooth sailing. In the 1960's and 70's America's secret bombing of Cambodia was disastrously destabilising for the Kingdom. Then came the brutal years of the Khmer Rouge and diplomatic relations with the US weren't re-established until 1991. The last few years, however, have seen a deepening of ties between the two nations, with military aid resuming, humanitarian aid flowing, and oil and mineral investments looming.
May 14, 2010ABC Radio Australia
The United States and Cambodia are celebrating 60 years of diplomatic ties this year. But it hasn't been six decades of smooth sailing. In the 1960's and 70's America's secret bombing of Cambodia was disastrously destabilising for the Kingdom. Then came the brutal years of the Khmer Rouge and diplomatic relations with the US weren't re-established until 1991. The last few years, however, have seen a deepening of ties between the two nations, with military aid resuming, humanitarian aid flowing, and oil and mineral investments looming.
Presenter: Liam Cochrane
Speakers: Ted Allegra, Charge d'Affaires US Embassy in Phnom Penh
Listen: Windows MediaALLEGRA: Sixty years in any relationship is a long time and it's no different for the US-Cambodia relations and on the occasion of the 60th anniversary this year, I mean it's an appropriate time we believe to not only look back and to see where we began and how it developed through good and through difficult parts and just as importantly, to look to the future and see where the relationship can proceed.
COCHRANE: Let's look forward then. What are the key areas of interest from the American side in this bilateral relationship?
ALLEGRA: We've got a growing military-to-military relationship. Some of the things we are looking at the 60th anniversary commemoration to highlight are Cambodia's hosting the global peacekeeping initiative exercises this July which will attract over a thousand troops from 23 different nations and specifically, as Cambodia was a recipient of UN peacekeeping efforts for so many years, it is quite astonishing and quite complimentary that they actually can be a provider of peacekeeping troops around the world.
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