On 4 August 2011, the Indian Ambassador to Thailand met with the Minister of Foreign Affairs on the occasion of the former’s completion of his duties in Thailand, providing a setting for both sides to take stock of past cooperation and discuss further cooperation, particularly in trade, political-security cooperation, and democratic development.
Mr. Pinak Ranjan Chakravarty, Indian Ambasssador to Thailand, during the discussion with Foreign Minister Kasit Piromya congratulated Thailand for holding elections in a very efficient manner. The Foreign Minister said that he had received generally positive feedback about Thailand’s national elections, but added that the two countries could further benefit from enhanced contact between major political parties.
Foreign Minister Kasit added that as India was the beacon of democracy, India’s role in international and Asia Pacific democratic development was essential and highly significant. He expressed hope that awareness could be raised on the need to cooperate on promotion of democracy.
The two sides agreed that political cooperation could also benefit from cooperation on security issues. Ambassador Chakravarty said that a Memorandum of Understanding on Security, which is currently under consideration by both sides, would be an important step forward. On this issue, Foreign Minister Kasit said that India’s quick and independent progress on military research and development meant that it was well positioned to share its experiences with Thailand. This could be done through both the mentioned MOU on Security as well as an exchange of scientists.
Apart from political-security cooperation and democratic development, in the area of trade and investment, Thailand and India have seen annual bilateral trade increase rapidly to 8 billion US Dollars and the partners are aiming to see the trade figure rise to 10 billion US Dollars by next year. Foreign Minister Kasit said that in the past, there has been an increase in awareness regarding the potential between the two countries, particularly among the private sector. He further noted that cooperation in trade and investment could also be enhanced through coordination between joint working business and industry groups in India and Thailand.
กองการสื่อมวลชน กรมสารนิเทศ กระทรวงการต่างประเทศ โทร. 643-5170 โทรสาร. 643-5169 E-mail : div0704@mfa.go.th--จบ--