Building on a strong shared cultural heritage — as Prime Minister Narendra Modi put it — “from the Legend of Rama to the Wisdom of the Buddha”, India and Thailand on Friday decided to deepen cooperati
Building on a strong shared cultural heritage — as Prime Minister Narendra Modi put it — “from the Legend of Rama to the Wisdom of the Buddha”, India and Thailand on Friday decided to deepen cooperation in the fields of economy, counter-terrorism, cyber security and human trafficking besides forging closer ties in defence and maritime security, even as both countries prioritised completion of the ambitious India-Myanmar-Thailand Trilateral highway and early signing of the Motor Vehicles Agreement between India, Thailand and Myanmar.
This was announced after Mr Modi held extensive talks with visiting Thai counterpart Gen. Prayut Chan-o-cha. The leaders said early conclusion of a balanced Compr-ehensive Economic and Partnership Agreement is a shared priority. In a bid to attract tourists from Thailand, especially to the Buddhist sites in the country, PM Modi also announced that India will soon facilitate double entry e-tourist visas for Thai citizens.
Mr Modi said, “The (Thai) PM and I are fully aware that smooth flow of goods, services, capital and human resources between our economies needs a strong network of air, land and sea links. We have, therefore, prioritised completion of India-Myanmar-Thailand Trila-teral highway; and early signing of the Motor Vehicles Agreement betw-een our three countries. Connectivity is also an area of priority for India’s development. Improving access to southeast Asia from our north-eastern states benefits both our peoples.” A joint statement issued added, “Both leaders noted with satisfaction the progress in regional connectivity effo-rts such as the India-Myanmar-Thailand Trila-teral Highway and agreed to expedite the completion of the project as well as to expedite negotiati-ons on the India-Myanm-ar-Thailand Motor Vehic-les Agreement. The two leaders also welcomed Thailand’s readiness to commence the negotiation on the Air Service Agreement.
They agreed that the completion of the highway and the agreement will facilitate not only trade, but also people-to-people linkages.”
Following the delegation-level talks, in which Army Chief Gen. Dalbir Singh Suhag was also present, two agreements - Executive Programme of Cultural Exchange (Extension of CEP) for 2016-2019 and an MoU between Nagaland University and Chiang Mai University, Thailand - were signed.
Talking about the issue of terror, the Prime Minister said both countries were aware that rapid spread of terrorism and radical ideology pose a common challenge. In our shared objective to combat these challenges, India is particularly grateful to Thailand for its assistance and cooperation, he said.
“Beyond terrorism, we have agreed to further deepen our security engagement in the fields of cyber security, narcotics, transnational economic offenses and human trafficking,” Modi said while addressing the media.
Noting that India and Thailand were also maritime neighbours, he said both the countries have agreed to forge a closer partnership in the fields of defence and maritime cooperation.
“A partnership to meet our bilateral interests and to respond to our shared regional goals,” he said. On trade and commerce, Modi said a more “diversified commercial engagement” between both countries would not only benefit the respective economies but also enable greater regional economic prosperity.
He said that besides trade, there are also ample avenues for greater manufacturing and investment linkages. “We see a particular synergy between Thai strengths in infrastructure, particularly tourism infrastructure, and India’s priorities in this field. Information Technology, pharmaceuticals, auto components and machinery are some other areas of promising collaboration. We also see early conclusion of a balanced Comprehensive Economic and Partnership Agreement as our shared priority,” he said.
“Connectivity is also an area of priority for India’s development. Improving access to Southeast Asia from our north-eastern states benefits both our peoples,” he said. Stronger connectivity is essential not just for expanding bilateral trade ties, it also brings people closer and facilitates enhanced science, education, culture and tourism cooperation, he said.
Modi also announced that the Indian Constitution would soon be translated into Thai language. A joint statement released later said that in addition to the wide range of cooperation, Thailand and India have compatible strategies of Look West and Act East respectively, that has been now evolved into a comprehensive partnership.
The two Prime Ministers held wide-ranging discussions on bilateral, regional and multilateral issues, with a common goal to work closely towards the 70th anniversary of their diplomatic relations and beyond, it said. “The Prime Minister of Thailand invited Indian investments to Thailand under the cluster development policy, which is a newly initiated program aimed at enhancing investment in focused areas,” a joint statement said.
