New Delhi, April 1: Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be on a two-day visit to Thailand, beginning Thursday, for the sixth BIMSTEC Summit, during which he will meet his counterpart, Paetongtarn Shinawatra and hold bilateral ties.
During the visit, PM Modi will be enhancing India’s deep civilisational linkages, maritime connectivity, and cross-cultural exchanges with member countries of the Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC) Summit.
At the summit, themed ‘BIMSTEC – Prosperous, Resilient and Open’, the leaders are also expected to discuss various institutional and capacity-building measures to augment collaboration within the BIMSTEC framework, the Ministry of External Affairs said last week.
India has been taking several initiatives in BIMSTEC to strengthen regional cooperation and partnership, including in enhancing security; facilitating trade and investment; establishing physical, maritime and digital connectivity; collaborating in food, energy, climate and human security; promoting capacity building and skill development; and enhancing people-to-people ties,” read a statement issued by the MEA.
PM Modi’s visit to the South Asian country at the invitation of the Thai government is expected to strengthen ties and reaffirm India’s commitment to regional cooperation. This would be the second meeting between PM Modi and his Thai counterpart, Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra.
Earlier, PM Modi visited Thailand in 2019, and this visit is expected to build on the positive momentum of bilateral relations. The last BIMSTEC Summit was hosted by Colombo in virtual format.
Established in June 1997, the BIMSTEC regional grouping forms a unique link between South and South-East Asia with five members from South Asia – Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Nepal and Sri Lanka – and two from South-East Asia, including Myanmar and Thailand. Thailand is India’s maritime neighbour, a valuable partner in the Act East policy and vision for the Indo-Pacific, and also a highly valued partner in BIMSTEC.
India and Thailand are maritime neighbours with shared civilisational bonds underpinned by cultural, linguistic, and religious ties. Notably, India recently sent the holy relics of Lord Buddha and two of his main disciples for a 25-day exposition across five different cities of Thailand, and its unprecedented success cemented age-old ties between the two nations.
IANS