Bilateral Relations
Economic cooperation Cultural cooperation Education Tourism Security and Defence cooperation Science and Technology Cooperation Regional Cooperation ASEAN-India BIMSTEC MGC Multilateral cooperationThailand and India have cross-histories going back to the 329 BC when the Indian Emperor Ashoka sent Sona and Uttra to Suvanabhumi to spread the message of Buddhism in Thailand. However, in modern history, diplomatic relations between Thailand and India were established soon after India gained independence in 1947.
Throughout the past six decades after the establishment of modern diplomatic relations between Thailand and India, our two countries have leveraged our long-standing historical and cultural ties into the current warm friendship, close cooperation and shared values. The convergence of Thailand's "Look West" policy since 1996 and India's "Look East" policy of 1993 has resulted in mutually beneficial cooperation covering diverse dimensions ranging from trade & investment, science & technology, defence, agriculture to tourism, culture and education.
Significant improvements in the relations between Thailand and India were brought in by the increasing exchange of high-level visits of both sides.
The visits to the Republic of India by His Royal Highness Crown Prince Maha Vajiralongkorn, Her Royal Highness Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn and Her Royal Highness Princess Chulabhorn have highlighted the cordial relations between our two countries at highest level. The exchange visits by the Thai and Indian Prime Minister and cabinet members, leaders and members of parliament, as well as the judiciary at bilateral, regional and multilateral levels have contributed to the closer political, security, economic, social as well as cultural ties between our two countries and peoples.
The Thailand-India Joint Commission (JC) for Bilateral Cooperation has served as a major forum to strengthen bilateral ties. Thailand hosted the last JC in 2007 in Bangkok.
Economic & commercial linkages form an important aspect of Thailand’s partnership with India. The past few years have seen a rapid intensification of these linkages between the two countries.
Bilateral trade has grown significantly and has multiplied five times since 2000 to reach 6.64 billion USD in 2010. This represents nearly 35% increase from trade in 2009. The Trade figure in 2010 includes Thai exports worth 4.39 billion USD and Thai imports worth 2.25 billion USD.
A major factor lies in the implementation of Early Harvest Scheme (EHS) under the Framework Agreement for Establishing Free Trade Area between Thailand and India which was signed in October 2003. The operation of EHS containing 82 products commenced on 1 September 2004. At present, Thailand and India are in a process of negotiating to concluding an FTA covering trade in goods, which would further boost stronger bilateral economic ties.
Major items of Thai exports to India include : machinery & machinery appliances; organic chemicals; electrical machinery and parts; rubbers; plastics; auto parts/accessories; fabrics; refrigerator compressors.
Major Items of Thai imports from India include : precious & semi-precious stones; machinery & machinery appliances; iron and steel; medicinal & pharmaceutical products.
Investment by Indian and Thai companies into each others’ countries is growing. Indian companies have invested around US$ 1.5 billion in Thailand since 1970s (according to data from the Board of Investment of Thailand). Thailand has invested over US$ 44 million in India (April 2000-Sep 2008) according to Department of Industrial Policy Promotion of Government of India.
Thai business groups in India include leading Thai companies in the fields of Agro-processing, construction, automotive, engineering and banking. Major Thai companies active in India are - C P Aquaculture ( India) Ltd., Ital Thai Development Pcl., Krung Thai Bank Pcl., Charoen Pokphand ( India) Private Limited, Thai Summit Neel Auto Pvt. Ltd., Delta Electronics, Prueksa Real Estate, Thai Airways International Pcl. and Precious Shipping (PSL) of Thailand.
From the Indian side, the Aditya Birlagroup, Indo Rama group, Tata Group, Ranbaxy, Dabur, Lupin, NIIT are among major Indian companies doing business in Thailand and reflecting the diverse sectors of interest, which are chemicals, textiles, pharmaceuticals, steel, automotive, and IT. Groups like Aditya Birla and Indo Rama have had business presence in Thailand for several decades. The Tata group has growing business interest in Thailand with Tata Motors forming a joint venture with Thonburi Automotive Assembly Plant Co. to form Tata Motors (Thailand), which has launched a pickup truck in the Thai market in March 2008; Tata Steel having invested in the largest Thai steel manufacturer Millennium Steel to create Tata Steel Thailand; and Tata Consultancy Services having a long presence. Several Indian Public Sector companies are also present in Thailand. These include : Indian Overseas Bank, Bank of Baroda, New India Assurance, Indian,
Significant mechanisms to push forward economic cooperation between the two countries are:
- Joint Trade Committee (JTC): established 2532. The last meeting was held in Bangkok in September 2003
- Joint Business Council : run by Thai Chamber of Commerce, the Federation of Industry of Thailand and Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) and Confederation of Indian Industry (CII)
The Royal Thai Embassy in New Delhi has worked toward the further deepening and diversification of Thailand-India ties and has contributed to promoting the economic linkages by organizing a series of business seminar on economic cooperation, business road shows as well as the annual Thai Festival “Destination Thailand”. In September 2008, the Royal Thai Embassy in cooperation with the Ministry for the Development of the North Eastern Region (DONER) and the Indian Chamber of Commerce, successfully organized a business Roadshow in Guwahati, as a part of the 4th North East Business Summit. In 2009, the Embassy organized “Destination Thailand” event during 26-28 September to showcase Thailand in all aspects, namely Thai products, Thai food and fruits, Thai massage, tourism and Thai cultural performances.
Thailand and India have been historically and culturally linked centuries ago. People-to-people ties between Thailand and India have existed for several centuries. References are found in ancient Indian literature about Thailand as Suvanabhumi or the Golden land. In 329 BC, Emperor Ashoka sent Sona and Uttra to Suvanabhumi to spread the message of Buddhism. Hinduism has also influenced Thailand as reflected in architecture, arts, sculpture, dance, drama and literature. Ramakien, a Thai national epic is derived from Ramayana and has important influence on the Thai literature, art and drama. Several socio-cultural habits and festivals of the Thai and Indian people are similar. The influence of Pali and Sanskrit on the Thai language has been considerable and is particularly noticeable in the terminology connected with state-craft, science and technology. The shared link of Buddhism is reflected in the regular pilgrimages to places of Buddhist interest in India by Thais.
A Cultural Agreement between Thailand and India was signed in April 1977 to strengthen these age-old cultural ties. Later on, in 2007, the Executive Programme of Cultural Exchange between the two governments was signed during the official visit to India of Prime Minister Surayud Chulanont. Cultural exchanges, supported by Thai and Indian Governments, have been taking place over the years. During the official visit to Thailand of Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee of India in 2003, the Prime Ministers of both sides agreed to set up Thai and Indian Cultural Centres in both countries. An Indian Studies Centre at Thammasat University and Sanskrit Centre at Silpakorn University were also established in 2003 to spread the knowledge about India to a wide scope of the Thai public.
The Royal Thai Embassy in New Delhi also plays its part in creating awareness of the close linkages in historical and cultural aspects existing between the two countries. Since 2005, the Embassy has organized a series of annual seminar on Indo-Thai Historical and Cultural linkages alternately in India and Thailand. On 9 September 2009, the Embassy in cooperation with the Government of Sikkim, organized an seminar on "Culture and Community Development" in Gangtok.
An MOU on Cooperation in the field of Education between Thailand and India was signed in 2005 during an official visit to India of Thai Prime Minister. A Joint Working Group between the two countries was set up in 2007. Thailand hosted the first meeting in the same year during which the meeting agreed that the two countries would have regular exchange of scholars, professors, researchers and experts in the field of mutual interests, such as IT, Computer Science, Science and Technology.
Nowadays, there are over 1,500 Thai scholars and monks who have studied IT, Computer Science, Engineer, Philosophy, Buddhism and Sanskrit language, mainly in Pune, Darjeeling, Bangalor, Kolkata and Delhi.
Tourism industry plays a vital role in Thai economy. It represented 11% of the GDP in 2006, and tourists from India have greatly contributed to that fact. Thailand is the second favorite destination in Asia for India. In 2010, over 600,000 Indian tourists travelled to Thailand. On the other hand, the number of Thai tourists to India is gradually increasing, mostly to visit significant Buddhist sites in India. The first Thai Monastery outside Thailand, built by the Thai Government on the invitation of Indian Government in Gaya has become one of major tourist destination for Thai people.
At present, the air connectivity between Thailand and India is growing with over 100 flights per week reflecting a rapidly growing traffic of tourist and businesspersons between the two countries. Thai Airways operates direct flight from Bangkok to Delhi, Mumbai and Kolkata 14 flights a week and Bangkok to Chennai, Bangalore and Hyderabad 7 flights a week. Indian Airlines, Air India, Jet Airways also operate their direct flight from Delhi to Bangkok.
The Thai Government regards security cooperation between Thailand and India as one of the top priorities, realizing that security problems and terrorism have broadened and have increasingly become challenges to the international community. Joint Working Group on security cooperation established in 2003 has provided a useful framework to push forward cooperation in this field of the two countries. The operational agencies of both sides have worked closely on mutual areas of concern such as counter-terrorism, military cooperation, maritime security, international economic and cyber-crimes, anti-narcotics and money laundering. The India-Thailand defence cooperation comprises regular joint exercises / joint maritime patrols near the international maritime boundary to counter terrorism, piracy and smuggling; training of officers at each others' Armed Forces Training institutions and exchange of visits at various levels. MOU and Standards Operating Procedures for Coordinated Patrol signed in 2007 ensures the effective implementation of the Law of the Sea to prevent illegal activities. An MoU on Defence Cooperation is also under finalization while Joint Working Group Meetings and Staff Talks are held regularly.
A programme of bilateral cooperation in the field of science and technology is in place between TISTR (Thailand Institute of Scientific and Technological Research) and CSIR (Council of Scientific and Industrial Research) . Cooperation between the two countries in this field, received an impetus with the signing of an Agreement on Scientific, Technical and Environmental Cooperation and Transfer of Technology in 2002. A Programme of Cooperation in Science and Technology has been signed in February 2006. A Thai delegation visited India in April 2006 and has interactions with the Department of Biotechnology, National Informatics Centre (NIC), The Energy Research Institute (TERI) and the National Brain Research Centre. There have been some training programmes for Thai scientists. An Electronics Design Laboratory (EDL) was set up at Chulalongkorn University , with Government of India assistance. The second meeting of Joint Working Group on Cooperation in Science and Technology was held in November 2006 in New Delhi.
The growing relations between Thailand and India have also been facilitated by the growing impetus towards greater regional cooperation.
There has been steady progress in the ASEAN-India relations. India became sectoral dialogue partner of ASEAN in 1992. In 1996, this was upgraded to full dialogue partnership. The signing of the ASEAN-India FTA this year during ASEAN Economic Ministers meeting in August is a manifestation of an intensified relations between ASEAN and India and will help further strengthen their economic cooperation.
Thailand attaches the importance to greater connectivity between ASEAN and India, both in term of transportation networks and networking among our people. For the security front, Thailand reaffirms our commitment to strengthen cooperation under the ASEAN-India Joint Declaration on Cooperation to Combat Terrorism.
The Prime Minister of India attended the 15th ASEAN Summit, the 7th ASEAN-India Summit, EAS Summit in Thailand October 2009. The Minister of Commerce of Thailand participated in India-ASEAN Business Fair hosted by Indian Government in New Delhi on 2-4 March 2011.
Another framework that brings Thailand and India together is BIMSTEC or the Bay of Bengal Initiatives for Multi-Sectoral Technical & Economic Cooperation, which was established in 1997. The members are Thailand, Bangladesh, India, Sri Lanka, Myanmar, Bhutan and Nepal. The objective of the grouping is to serve as a bridge between South East Asia and South Asia. BIMSTEC focuses on trade and investment, technology, transport and communication, energy, tourism, and fisheries. The Thai Prime Minister attended the successful 2nd BIMSTEC Summit meeting in New Delhi in November 2008.
Thailand and India also cooperate in Mekong Ganga Cooperation (MGC). The MGC brings togerher Cambodia, India, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand and Vietnam. Both the Mekong and the Ganga are civilizational rivers, and the MGC initiative is indicative of the shared cultural linkages among the member countries. The focus of the MGC is on promotion of tourism, cultural and educational cooperation.
At the multilateral level, Thailand and India have been cooperating closely at the United Nations, WTO, international financial institutions, and others to promote global and regional peace and security and socio-economic development. In particular, Thailand and India have been working closely to address the challenges of globalization: from terrorism and all forms of transnational crimes, global financial crisis and economic slow down, food and energy security, climate change and other environment, to public health and poverty alleviation.
As active developing country members of the WTO, Thailand and India should combine forces to bring a fruitful conclusion to the Doha Round of trade negotiations. At the G-20, we can work together to bring about the reform of the international financial architecture and discourage protectionism. We have many opportunities to pull our resources together to minimize the negative impact of the current global financial crisis and usher in early recovery of the global economy.