India’s External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar (right) and Thai Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Parnpree Bahiddha-Nukara (Photo: ANI) New Delhi (VNA) – India and Thailand have pledgedto strengthen their partnership at the 10th India-Thailand Joint Commission Meeting whichwas co-chaired by India’sExternal Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar and Thai Deputy Prime Minister andForeign Minister Parnpree Bahiddha-Nukara, who is on an official visit to Indiafrom February 25-28.
Duringthe meeting, the officials assessed the progress in various areas of bilateralcooperation, covering defence and security, trade and investment, connectivity,science and technology, health, culture, and people-to-people exchange. Thetwo sides also exchanged views on regional and multilateral issues of mutualconcern.
They committed to deepening cooperation across sub-regional, regional, and multinational platforms, particularly within frameworks such as the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), the Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC and the Mekong-Ganga Cooperation and The Ayeyawady-Chao Phraya-MekongEconomic Cooperation Strategy (ACMECS).
Recognising the convergence between India's Act East Policy,commemorating its 10th year in 2024, and Thailand's Act West Policy, bothnations pledged to leverage their synergies. Jaishankar welcomed Thailand'srole in co-leading the Maritime Ecology Pillar of the Indo-Pacific OceansInitiative (IPOI).
Investment in Thailand’s Land Bridge mega project andwaiving the visa requirement for Thais visiting India were among the topics upfor discussion during Parnpree's visitto India. Both sideshope to increase trade and investment value to 35 billion USD by 2027./.
