SHILLONG, April 7: Thailand has expressed its willingness to collaborate with the North-Eastern Hill University (NEHU) on different areas.
As part of an ongoing understanding with Thailand and University of Chulalongkorn, Thailand, a Thai delegation led by Ambassador of Thailand to India, Pattarat Hongtong, visited the NEHU on Thursday.
The delegation held wide-ranging discussions with academicians of NEHU on various subjects, including Indo-Thai relations.
Hongtong, in her address, informed that the Government of Thailand has a department of traditional medicine and aromatic plants, and many universities work in these areas.
“We can explore at the possibility of fresh collaborations in these areas,” she said.
Pointing to the active role of her office in bridging the gap between Thailand and Northeast India, Hongtong said as she not only recognises Tai-Ahom but other such communities that share cultural roots in Thailand.
Hongtong also exhorted NEHU to facilitate larger participation of Thai students in various academic programmes and promised to reciprocate by allowing larger participation of students from NEHU in various exchanges, fellowships, et al, in Thailand.
She also expressed her willingness to facilitate collaborations between universities of Northern Thailand and NEHU.
Earlier, NEHU vice chancellor Prof Prabha Shankar Shukla led the team of deans, office of international affairs and other dignitaries during a session on exchange of ideas.
Topics and areas that were broached included agriculture, plant-based sciences, traditional knowledge system, traditional medicine of North-East, and cultural and civilisational linkages between North-East and Thailand.
Prof Shukla also pointed out the need for further exchange of ideas on areas like bioinformatics, data sciences, medicine, nanosciences, innovative science and technology projects, culture, language, and the arts.
It may be mentioned that the newly established International Office of NEHU has been tasked with the onus to better the existing collaboration between NEHU and Chulalongkorn University, which could further be expanded to universities of Chiang Mai and Chiang Rai.