Proliferating bonhomie

India and Thailand celebrated the 75th anniversary of diplomatic relations at the ninth India-Thailand joint commission meeting held in August 2022. The relationship is gaining momentum in the new global dynamics of the 21st century. As we witness a change in the global outlook, there is a simultaneous need to upgrade the historical ties. Engagement in the new areas needs to be explored. The major thrust areas for contemporary relations with India may include connectivity and economic interdependence. Thailand has been termed as India's extended neighborhood, and the economic and cultural ties are older than 2000 years.

Background

The roots of Indo-Thai relations are embedded in history, age-old social and cultural interactions, and extensive people-to-people contacts. The region is referred to as Kathakosha, Suvarnabhumi (the land of God) or Suvarnadvipa (the golden island) in the classical Pali and Sanskrit texts from India. The popular deities of India are worshipped in Thailand. Thai, Malay, and Javanese are the many local languages in the region, which contain significant words of Sanskrit, Pali, and Dravidian languages.

Historically, there was an estrangement of Indo-Thai relations during the cold war period, which can be attributed to the unstable political scenario in Thailand. We also witnessed no significant state visits between the two nations until 1972, when President VV Giri made the first visit to Bangkok.

Notably, the Indian-origin diasporic population in Thailand is estimated to be around 250,000.

Diplomatic relations

While the diplomatic relationship between India and Thailand was established in 1947, it was only in the 1970s that we witnessed cooperation with will and sincerity. Post-cold war, there was an increase in high-level meetings. Rajiv Gandhi visited Bangkok in 1986 and Narsimha Rao in 1993. On the policy front, India's Look East policy (1994) and Thailand's Look West policy complement each other. The sudden increase in engagement between the two nations can be attributed to the spike in Southeast Asia's economic trade and investment over the past four decades. The decade of the 2000's saw multiple visits by dignitaries from both sides. India and Thailand signed an FTA in October 2003, which was implemented in March 2004. Regarding bilateral trade, while India is the top trade partner for Thailand in South Asia, Thailand is the fourth-largest trading destination for India in the Southeast Asian region.

The statistics show that the FDI from India into Thailand from April 2000 to December 2016 was USD 282.56 million, constituting about 0.09 per cent of Thailand's total FDI inflows. At the same time, investment from Thailand has also increased in recent years from USD 11.55 million in 2012 to USD 68.87 million in 2016. The bilateral trade between Thailand and India reached the highest at USD 15 billion in 2021-2022. Both the countries interact closely in the ASEAN, East Asia Summit (EAS), Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC) grouping, Mekong Ganga Cooperation (MGC), and Asia Cooperation Dialogue (ACD).

The strategic importance of Thailand for India is in its role as a Gateway to Southeast Asia and beyond. The connectivity and infrastructure projects take the top priority in order to close the developmental gaps in Northeast India. The common maritime boundaries of the Indian Ocean and the Bay of Bengal have highlighted marine space's importance and led to multiple military engagements. India-Thailand bilateral Defence Dialogue took place in December 2001, where the focus was on the aspect of defense and security. A Joint Working Group on security cooperation was established in 2003 which provided an essential framework to deepen the collaboration in maritime fields, including security cooperation.

India and Thailand have been cooperating through multilateral naval exercises in maritime security domain. Indian Navy's MILAN exercise provided a platform to foster closer cooperation among navies of countries in the Bay of Bengal and the Indian Ocean region. The Western Pacific Naval Symposium (WPNS) and the Indian Ocean Naval Symposium (IONS) are other two platforms for cooperation between the two nations. The Indo-Thai CORPAT was also launched in 2006, and the 25th edition of the CORPAT was held in January 2018. The exercise aimed at coordinated patrolling, anti-piracy exercises, and search and rescue exercises. The Cobra Gold exercise, which is a multilateral exercise, was held in Thailand, where India participated as an 'Observer Plus' country. Additionally, both countries participate in the Rim of the Pacific (RIMPAC), the world's largest naval exercise. The bilateral military exercise, Maitree, was also launched in 2007.

The reason for Thailand to strengthen its ties beyond its immediate neighbour is that the country is undergoing a new economic developmental model. This is termed as the Thailand 4.0. It aims to unlock the country from 'a middle-income trap situation' and 'an inequality trap' and ensure that the country progresses towards the 'first world country' status. In addition, this aims at ensuring a stable, prosperous, and sustainable nation within the context of the 4th industrial revolution.

However, the main roadblock between the Indo-Thai cooperation is the Myanmar coup and the governmental crisis. The border issues of Myanmar with India and Thailand have created hurdles over the operationalisation of the 1,400 km long India-Myanmar-Thailand Trilateral Highway linking the three countries with Southeast Asia by land.

Recent developments

The second North East India festival was held in Bangkok. Two memorandums of understanding (MoUs) were signed during EAM S Jaishankar's visit to Thailand for the ninth India-Thailand joint commission meeting in August 2022. One was on health and medical research, and the other was on broadcasting cooperation. Bangkok has also signed a 'mini-Free Trade Agreement' with the state of Telangana in India. It intends to enter into more similar agreements with other Indian states. In addition, the air travel bubble scheme initiative has been launched to encourage more Indians to visit the nation. They have become an alternative for countries to allow tourists to travel if regular flights remain suspended.

Thailand will also be taking up the chairmanship of BIMSTEC this year, thereby providing Delhi and Bangkok with more opportunities to catalyse the BIMSTEC Master Plan for Transport Connectivity and discuss new frameworks to enhance trade and infrastructure connectivity.

Conclusion

In contemporary times, with the emergence of new world order, multilateral and minilateral engagements are at the forefront. Hence, there is a dire need to intensify cooperation beyond the matrix of national interest. The significant issues of maritime security, trade and investment, digital collaboration, regional connectivity and stability, narcoterrorism, marine piracy, the safety of sea lanes of communication, arms trafficking, illegal fishing, environmental security, utilisation of marine resources etc. require a holistic Indo-pacific partnership based on dialogue and diplomacy.

The writer is PhD Scholar in Political Science and International Politics. Views expressed are personal