On 3 – 5 February 2016, H.E. Mr. M. Hamid Ansari, Vice President of the Republic of India, Mrs. Salma Ansari, Spouse of Vice President of the Republic of India and his delegation, paid an Official Visit to Thailand at the invitation of H.E. General Prayut Chan-o-cha, Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Thailand.

On 5 February 2016, the Indian Vice President and his spouse were granted the royal audience with Her Royal Highness Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn. Her Royal Highness will visit India in November 2016 when the Indian Council for Cultural Relations (ICCR) will present Her Royal Highness with the “World Sanskrit Award”.

On 3 February 2016, the Prime Minister of Thailand and the Vice President of India held a comprehensive dialogue. On this occasion, the Indian Vice president reiterated the Indian Prime Minister’s invitation to the Prime Minister and the Indian Defense Minister’s invitation to General Prawit Wongsuwan, Deputy Prime Minister and Defense Minister to visit India.

Both sides also discussed the issue of their cordial cooperation including expedition of the conclusion of the Free Trade Agreement; ways and means to increase bilateral trade and investment; further promotion of connectivity linkages; transport and logistics; the technical cooperation, agricultural cooperation; the promotion of the cooperation on science, technology and innovation; tourism and people-to-people ties, and expressed satisfaction with the flourishing ties between the two countries. They reaffirmed their commitment to cooperate and move forward on important issues of mutual interest.

On 4 February 2016, the Vice President delivered a keynote address on “India, Thailand and ASEAN: Contours of a Rejuvenated Relationship” at Chulalongkorn University attended by    240 participants from various sectors. After that, the Vice President met with Indologists and academicians from universities offering Indian Studies and South Asian Studies in Thailand. In addition, the Vice President and Mrs. Ansari also visited the Temple of the Reclining Buddha (Wat Pho) and the Grand Palace.

This visit to Thailand of the Indian Vice President was part of the Indian Government’s ‘Act East’ policy. This illustrates that India is interested in Thailand as a regional hub to connect all dimensions of the regional cooperation. Thailand and India will celebrate their 70^th anniversary of the diplomatic relations in 2017.