Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh will visit Thailand from May 30-31. During this two-day visit, he will meet his counterpart, Yingluck Shinawatra, to discuss bilateral ties.
The two sides are expected to hold talks on ways to enhance defence and security cooperation between the two countries and explore new areas of cooperation in trade, investments, and infrastructure. Both sides are also expected to sign an extradition treaty, and agreements on cooperation between the two countries’ academic institutions.
India and Thailand share strong historic and cultural ties. Prime Minister Shinawatra paid a state visit to India from January 24-26 last year, as the Chief Guest for India’s Republic Day celebrations. The two sides cooperate on a number of initiatives like India-Myanmar-Thailand trilateral highway, Asian Highway Network, and sub-regional engagements like the BIMSTEC and Mekong Ganga Cooperation. Thailand also forms an essential component of India’s ‘Look East’ policy. The two way trade stood at $8.68 billion between January-December 2012.