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PHNOM PENH, CAMBODIA, December 6, 2004: The mighty river Mekong that flows through six Southeast Asian countries gets its name from India’s holiest and biggest river, the Ganges. “Me is a shorter version of mae or mother and Kong is from Ganga,” Pradeep Kumar Kapur, India’s ambassador to Cambodia, told IANS after welcoming the first India-ASEAN car rally into the country. The 4,350-km Mekong is the longest river in Southeast Asia, the seventh longest in Asia and the 12th longest in the world. Cambodia has ancient and historic ties with India and some of its oldest rulers came from India. The name Cambodia comes from the Indian king Kumbha who married a Cambodian princess Mera. The old name of Cambodia is Kampuchea. A caravan of 60 cars carrying 240 people are part of the 8,000-km, 20-day car rally which is tracing a historic land route across southeast Asia from India’s northeast to Indonesia. The rally ends at Batam, Indonesia, December 11.

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