India Welcomes Thailand Foreign Affairs Minister, Aims to Strengthen Strategic Partnership

New Delhi: External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal on Sunday welcomed Thailand Foreign Affairs Minister Sihasak Phuangketkeow's arrival in the national capital on his first official four-day visit to India, saying that it was an occasion to strengthen strategic partnership and enduring civilisation ties.

"A warm welcome to FM Sihasak Phuangketkeow on his first official visit to India as Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Kingdom of Thailand. An opportune occasion to strengthen our strategic partnership and enduring civilisational ties with Thailand," Jaiswal posted on X.

Sihasak Phuangketkeow's visit will continue till December 2. According to a Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) release, the Thai Foreign Minister will hold official engagements in the capital on November 30. On December 1, Sihasak Phuangketkeow will meet his counterpart, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar, at Hyderabad House for bilateral discussions. The delegation will depart from India on December 2, the MEA release added.

In April, Prime Minister Narendra Modi was in Bangkok, Thailand, to attend the 6th BIMSTEC Summit. He went to the Southeast Asian country on an official visit at the invitation of Thai PM Paetongtarn Shinawatra. During his visit, PM Modi added new vigour to the bilateral friendship between the two nations during a meeting with his Thai counterpart, Paetongtarn Shinawatra, by elevating the bilateral ties to a strategic partnership.

India and Thailand also exchanged memorandums across a range of sectors, including the Joint Declaration on the Establishment of the India-Thailand Strategic Partnership. An MoU was also exchanged between Thailand's Ministry of Digital Economy and Society and India's Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology on cooperation in the field of digital technologies. The Sagarmala Division of India's Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterways and the Fine Arts Department of Thailand's Ministry of Culture exchanged an MoU for the development of the National Maritime Heritage Complex (NMHC) at Lothal, Gujarat.\

An MoU was also signed between National Small Corporation Ltd. (NSIC) and the Office of Small and Medium Enterprises Promotion (OSMEP) of Thailand on cooperation in the field of micro, small and medium enterprises.
The Ministry of Development of North Eastern Region (MDONER) and Thailand's Ministry of Foreign Affairs exchanged an MoU.

An MoU was also exchanged between North Eastern Handicrafts and Handlooms Development Corporation Ltd (NEHHDC) and Thailand's Creative Economy Agency (CEA). India and Thailand have historically enjoyed warm and cordial relations. In contemporary times, diplomatic relations between the two countries were established in 1947, and both sides celebrated the 75th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic ties in 2022.

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