New Delhi [India], March 28 (ANI): During a special briefing on Prime Minister Narendra Modi's upcoming visit to Thailand and Sri Lanka, Secretary East Jadeep Mazumdar said that it will present an opportunity to build on positive momentum since his last visit in 2019.

Mazumdar said that the meeting of PM Modi and Prime Minister of Thailand, Paetongtarn Shinawatra is a second one, as the leaders met in October last year.

'The upcoming visit will present an opportunity to build on the positive momentum in our bilateral ties since the visit of the Prime Minister in 2019. The Prime Minister will hold bilateral meetings with the Prime Minister of Thailand, Ms. Paetongtarn Shinawatra. This will be his second meeting with the Thai Prime Minister. He had earlier met her on the margins of the ASEAN summit in Vientiane on 11th of October last year,' he said.

Mazumdar said that the two will review progress in the entire gamut of bilateral relations between the countries.

'They will review the progress in the entire gamut of bilateral relations and ways to add greater momentum to the India-Thailand bilateral partnership and also exchange views on the regional and multilateral issues,' he said.

Mazumdar said that a number of agreements and bilateral documents are expected to be signed in the visit.

'A number of agreements and declarations are likely to be concluded at the summit. I might also add that the present Secretary General of BIMSE is an Indian ambassador Indibani Pandey, a very distinguished Indian Foreign Service officer who took over as SG last year,' he said.

Mazumdar said that as a maritime neighbor, Thailand and India's ties cover multifaceted bilateral aspects.

'As you know, India and Thailand have historically warm bilateral relations, shared civilizational, cultural, and religious bonds. Thailand is India's maritime neighbour, a valuable partner in our Act East policy and vision for the Indo-Pacific, and also a highly valued partner in BIMSTEC. Our bilateral ties are multifaceted and cover a range of joint cooperation from defence and security to trade and investment, connectivity, science, technology, innovation, education, space, health, culture, tourism, and people to people exchanges,' he said.

He said that the trade between both countries is almost USD 15 billion.

'Thailand is the 3rd largest economy in ASEAN and our 4th largest trading partner after Singapore, Indonesia and Malaysia in the ASEAN region. Our trade is almost USD 15 billion and our exports to Thailand are about USD 5 billion and imports from Thailand about almost USD 10 billion,' he said.

'Last year at the request of the government of Thailand, India had sent the holy relics of Lord Buddha and two of his main disciples for a 25-day exposition over 5 different cities of Thailand. And this was from 25th of February to the 9th of March, and around 4 million people paid their obeisance to the relics,' he added.

Mazumdar said that the success of this expositions shows India's cooperation with Thailand in various groups.

'The unprecedented success of this exposition is a reaffirmation of our age-old indelible religious and cultural ties between the two countries. India and Thailand cooperate in ASEAN and the East Asia Summit process, and as I said in the Bay of Bengal initiative for multi-sectoral, technical and Economic Cooperation, the Mekong Ganga Cooperation, and the Indian Ocean Rim Association,' he said.

Mazumdar recounted the establishment of BIMSTEC, saying, 'As you know, the efforts to develop a regional cooperation platform along the Bay of Bengal began in June 1997 with the establishment of BIMSTEC, which was a grouping of Bangladesh, India, Sri Lanka and Thailand economic cooperation, with the addition of Myanmar in December that year, and then Nepal and Bhutan in February 2004, this became a grouping of seven countries.'

Mazumdar said that throughout its existence, BIMSTEC has been making steady progress and over the last 10 years, BIMSTEC has been making steady progress towards becoming a permanent formalised multilateral grouping.

'Over the past 27 years of its existence and especially over the last 10 years, BIMSTEC has been making steady progress towards becoming a permanent formalised multilateral grouping. The practise of holding summit meetings began in July 2005 in Bangkok, and India hosted the next summit in 2008. In 2014, the BIMSTEC Secretariat was established in Dhaka. And India hosted the BIMSTEC leaders retreat alongside the BRICS summit in Goa in 2016. A summit was held in Kathmandu in 2018 and in 2022, the 5th BIMSTEC summit was held virtually by the then chair Sri Lanka. The BIMSTEC Charter was approved and the reorganisation of BIMSTEC activities and the seven pillars was also approved in that summit,' he said.

Mazumdar announced that in the upcoming Bangkok Summit, a Bangkok 2030 vision will be adopted.

'At the forthcoming Bangkok summit, the Bangkok Vision 2030 will be adopted, and the report of the BIMSTEC Eminent Persons Group will also be endorsed to chart the future direction of BIMSTEC,' he said.

Mazumdar said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi is personally invested in BIMSTEC and had invited BIMSTEC leaders in his 2019 inauguration.

'Significant recent development in BIMSTEC has been that the charter has come into force in May last year. This gives the grouping an international personality, lays down its principles and purposes, and also the basic institutional architecture of the grouping. Prime Minister Modi's decision to host the BIMSTEC leaders retreat in Goa in 2016 was a signal development for BIMSTEC. The Prime Minister is personally invested in BIMSTEC. He also invited all the BIMSTEC leaders to his inauguration in 2019,' he said. (ANI)