Thailand’s share has been major in blueprinting India’s Act East Policy. PM Modi has discussed the bilateral issues of the mutual interest with PM General of Thailand, Prayuth Chan-o-cha on ASEAN Summit sidelines in Myanmar in the month of November 2014. The Policy was launched with the intention to enhance the scope and domain of regional partnership. In fact, greater emphasis is sought to be given to strategic cooperation that includes radicalization, defense cooperation, connectivity, fight against terrorism and connectivity. And positive results are already visible.
Again, in June 2015, Sushma Swaraj, the Minister of External Affairs, visited Bangkok to be a witness to the 7th Meeting of the India-Thailand Joint Commission, plus to attend the 16th World Sanskrit Conference. Such vibrant exchange of visits usually underscores the importance to India and Thailand attached to the bilateral partnership.
Additionally, on November 2016, India’s PM visited Bangkok to pay tribute to King Bhumibol Adulyadej who passed away in October 2016. Similarly, Vice President Hamid Ansari pays a visit to Thailand, whereas PM Prayuth came to India in June 2016. During these visits, a detailed roadmap of the future activities was blueprinted.
You may know that India and Thailand share a maritime boundary in the Andaman Sea. Owing to that Thailand has been the host of several ships of the Indian Navy on different occasions in the recent years. And this cooperation needs to be continued through human resource development, capacity building, contributing to the development of Thai capacities and technical development.
Well, considering that and so many other factors so much more can be done to better connectivity. The India-Myanmar-Thailand Trilateral Highland is therefore likely to expand connectivity through Northeast India to Southeast Asia. In fact, plans for the development of the Special Economic Zones and deep-sea ports are there too. The development of the East-West, as well as North-South corridors and linking of the transport-related projects, will enhance connectivity while expanding trade and commerce with India. Even, discussions are in progress to form a Joint Working Group for implementation of Strategic Connectivity.
If we track down the present investment scenario, there are, currently, over forty Indian companies, investing over the US $ 2 billion in Thailand. On the other hand, there are over thirty Thai companies functioning in India. According to an analysis, there is a potential for at least US$ 3 billion investment by the companies in Thailand in both green and brownfield projects in India.
It is believed that the Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC) can be a useful instrument for regional integration between India and Thailand. Honestly speaking, Indians in Thailand or vice versa, cements strong relations between the two of them.
