Last Updated: Friday, June 17, 2016 - 13:24
Zee Media BureauNew Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi will on Friday hold a meeting with visiting Thailand's PM Prayut Chan-o-cha, who arrived here on a three-day visit on Thursday.
During the talks, the two sides are likely to explore ways to expand maritime security cooperation, deal with the threat of terrorism and boost trade.
There are indications that both leaders will discuss the situation in the South China Sea.
Modi will host lunch in honour of his Thai counterpart.
The Thai PM will also call on Vice President M Hamid Ansari.
Chan-o-Cha is expected to deliver a speech at the business event hosted by FICCI, CII and ASSOCHAM today.
The Thai Prime Minister is accompanied by his spouse Naraporn Chan-o-cha and a high-level delegation comprising several cabinet ministers, senior officials and a 46-member business delegation.
Chan-o-Cha's, who arrived on his first visit here as Prime Minister, was received at the airport by Minister of State for Home Kiren Rijiju yesterday.
"India's excellent relations with Thailand are an important and integral component of India's strategic partnership with ASEAN. India's 'Act East' policy is complemented by Thailand's 'Look West' policy in bringing the two countries closer," the External Affairs Ministry had said in a statement.
The India-Thailand Joint Business Forum will hold its first meeting during Chan-o-Cha's visit and make recommendations for boosting trade ties between the two countries.
He will visit Bodhgaya on Saturday before returning to Thailand.
"India and Thailand have strong economic synergies and the diversifying profile of growing bilateral trade and investment reflects the growth and maturity of the interaction between the two economies," said the MEA.
Issues related to the proposed Free Trade Agreement between the two countries are likely to figure in talks. The volume of current annual bilateral trade between the two countries is nearly USD 8 billion and both sides are keen to expand it further.
Earlier, Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra had paid a State visit to India in January 2012 and was the Chief Guest for the Republic Day celebrations.
Maritime security cooperation between the two countries in the Indian Ocean is already "very strong", said Secretary (East) in the Ministry of External Affairs Preeti Saran, adding ways to further enhance it may be explored during the talks.
Thailand has shown interest in joint ventures in defence production and procurement of defence platforms from India.
(With PTI inputs)
First Published: Friday, June 17, 2016 - 07:39
More from zeenews2nd LD Writethru: Indian BJP nominates Modi as PM candidate
NEW DELHI, September 13 (Xinhua) -- India's opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) &Friday officially nominated Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi as the party's prime ministerial candidate in next year's general election, said local media. The nomination was seen as a victory of Hindu hardliners within the BJP and its allies. BJP leader Jatnath Singh informed his Hindu right-wing party Shiv Sena about the nomination after days of intensive debate among the BJP top leaders, said local TV CNN-IBN. Modi's anointment will complete a long-drawn and problematic process of generational change in the Hindu party, said Times of India online.The Global Times in a write up says that Modi was once a "practical businessman". BEIJING: If BJP prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi comes to power, it could bring India and China closer, says an influential state-run Chinese daily.
The Global Times in a write up says that Modi was once a "practical businessman". After he became chief minister of Gujarat he established good relations with China.
"A large number of Chinese enterprises invested in Gujarat, contributing to the economic development of the state. Therefore, ties between China and India may become closer under Modi's leadership," says the daily.
The article, titled 'Modi victory could cause disquiet in West', says that "there is still visible disquiet about the prospects of the election in mainstream western media".
It says that some western media and observers are "trying to foment discord between China and India by hyping up nationalist Modi's aggressive statements on the border issue between the two countries. They underscored the possibility that India will ally with Japan and Vietnam to contain China after Modi becomes the PM".
"In fact, it has been a policy for India to offset the negative effects of China's rise by enhancing strategic cooperation with countries around China. It's unlikely that Modi will change this policy. However, it doesn't mean he will strengthen the trend," says Liu Zongyi, a strategic analyst from the state-run Shanghai Institute for International Studies.
The article says the Bharatiya Janata Party manifesto promises a multilateral diplomacy and the establishment of "a web of allies" to further India's best national interests, "which steers away from a tilt toward the US held by India in diplomacy in the past decades. This has caused worries from the West".
It says that while Western countries like the US hope to use India to counterbalance China, "but they don't support India on issues of the country's core interests. The US withdrawal from its super-loose monetary policy led to a sharp devaluation of the rupee and capital flight from India and the US-designed Trans-Pacific Partnership excludes India.
"Therefore, India has strengthened coordination with emerging countries such as China and Russia over a spectrum of global issues.
"India in the future will chase more strategic independence. The West has adapted to an India with a weak central government in the past decades. It is afraid that a strongman like Russian President Vladimir Putin will make India really strong and build the country into a challenger to the West economically and politically. The US is particularly upset with the enhanced strategic cooperation among China, Russia and India," the article says.
"The extreme nationalist stand of the BJP has changed. Modi as a PM will face different tasks from when he was merely a politician. Modi in the past used some stained political means to seek the support within the party. But if he assumes the prime ministerial post, he will be confronted with bigger challenges than local politics."
The author says that the BJP will have to "organise the government with coalition partners. It's very unlikely that Modi will become a dictator." RELATEDRecommended By Colombia
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