Context:

The Prime Minister paid an Official Visit to Thailand and participated in the 6th BIMSTEC Summit in Bangkok.

Key outcomes of the Visit of the Prime Minister to Thailand

Six agreements were exchanged following bilateral talks between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Thailand counterpart Paetongtarn Shinawatra in Bangkok.

• Joint Declaration on the Establishment of India-Thailand Strategic Partnership
• MoU between India and Thailand on Cooperation in the field of Digital Technologies
• MoU between India and Thailand for the development of National Maritime Heritage Complex (NMHC) at Lothal, Gujarat.
• MoU between India and Thailand on cooperation in the field of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises
• The two nations will aim to speed up the 1,300-kilometre highway project that will begin from northeastern India and traverse through Myanmar before reaching northern Thailand.
• MoU between North Eastern Handicrafts and Handlooms Development Corporation Ltd. (NEHHDC) of the Republic of India and Creative Economy Agency (CEA) of the Government of the Kingdom of Thailand.

Thailand government released a special iStamp depicting Ramakien based on 18th century Ramayana mural paintings, painted during the reign of King Rama I to mark PM Modi’s visit.

The PM of India was also presented with a special edition of Buddhist holy scriptures TRI-PITAKA, in Pali that was published in 2016 to commemorate the reign of Thai King Rama IX. 

• The Tripitaka is a collection of teachings of Lord Buddha and includes over nine million syllables of the Pali Canon.

India-Thailand Relation

The diplomatic relations between the two countries were established in 1947 and both sides celebrated the 75th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations in 2022.

The ‘Act Westʼ' policy of Thailand complements India's ‘Act Eastʼ' policy as Thailand is Indiaʼs maritime neighbour.

Thailand is an important partner of India, especially in various international groups/summits 

• The ASEAN
• The East Asia Summit (EAS)
• The Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC)
• The Mekong Ganga Cooperation (MGC)
• The Asia Cooperation Dialogue (ACD)
• The Indian Ocean Rim Association (IORA)
• The Ayeyawady-Chao Phraya-Mekong Economic Cooperation Strategy (ACMECS)

As per the Department of Commerce of India, in Financial Year 2023-2024, Thailand was the 21st largest trading partner of India with total bilateral trade of around USD 14.94 billion.

As per Ministry of Commerce of Thailand, in 2024, India was the 11th largest trading partner of Thailand, and the total bilateral trade in 2024 was around 8 USD 17.5 billion.

An Indian Cultural Centre was opened in Bangkok in September 2009 [it has since been renamed as the Swami Vivekananda Cultural Centre].

Both sides are keen to operationalise the Trilateral Highway from Moreh (Manipur) to Mae Sot on the Thai–Myanmar border.

Defense Cooperation:

• Exercise MAITREE (Army).
• Exercise SIAM BHARAT (Air Force).
• Exercise INDO-THAI CORPAT (Navy).
• India also participates in the largest multilateral exercise in the Indo-Pacific region the Cobra Gold exercise co-hosted by Thailand and the United States.