A summit between India and the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) was on Saturday postponed, amid chaotic scenes unrelated to event in Thailand. Union Commerce and Industry Minister Kamal Nath and other leaders were safely evacuated from the venue at the resort town of Pattaya. 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 protesters. 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 helicopter to the nearby airport.
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 protesters. 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 helicopter to the nearby airport.
It's India - ASEAN summit and not India Asian summit
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