India-Thai pacts set to open up S-E Asia

India and Thailand on Wednesday signed six deals, with New Delhi and Bangkok agreeing to focus on developing road and shipping infrastructure that will lead to an economic corridor linking the two countries and providing better connectivity to Southeast Asia.

With the visiting Thai Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra calling for an India–Thailand maritime partnership over a seaport at Dawei on the southwestern coast of Myanmar, the two countries announced the creation of a Joint Working Group on infrastructure and connectivity “to help expedite development initiatives in the fields in both countries as well as in third countries”. They agreed that the work of the JWG could also aid regional connectivity efforts such as the India–Myanmar–Thailand Trilateral Highway.

The deals India and Thailand inked after bilateral talks between Shinawatra and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh included a treaty on the transfer of sentenced people and a Memorandum of Understanding for defence cooperation.

“My Government has decided to invest in transport and connect with our neighbours...We could set up a maritime linkage with Chennai and the Dawei seaport in Myanmar,” said Shinawatra, addressing the leaders of the India Inc earlier on the day.

The Thai Prime Minister is on her maiden visit to India and she is going to be the chief guest at the Republic Day ceremony on Thursday.

To strengthen economic links between the two countries, both sides resolved to conclude the bilateral Comprehensive Agreement on Trade in Goods, Services, and Investments by mid-2012.