India And Thailand Concur To Increase Their Defence And Security Cooperation

As India’s external affairs minister S. Jaishankar reaffirmed India’s commitment to a trilateral highway project involving Myanmar to improve regional connectivity, India and Thailand on Wednesday decided to increase their collaboration on defence and security issues, including cyber-security.

At a meeting of the India- joint commission in Bangkok, Jaishankar and his Thai counterpart Don Pramudwinai reviewed a variety of local and international concerns. They also evaluated the state of their ongoing collaboration, which covers trade and tourism.

Following the meeting, both leaders made statements to the media in which they declared their commitment to enhancing their defence and security cooperation, including cyber-security and the sharing of personnel and knowledge. Jaishankar stated that they chose to strengthen joint training and exercises for security and defence and that they understood the significance of increased ICT collaboration.

Wednesday saw an increase in collaboration between India and Thailand on defence and security issues, particularly cyber security, as External Affairs Minister S In response to a query regarding the protracted India-Myanmar-Thailand expressway, Jaishankar reaffirmed New Delhi’s dedication to what he described as a crucial project creating physical connectivity between South Asia and Southeast Asia. He claimed that a number of additional Asean nations had shown interest in working on the initiative.

Jaishankar claimed that he and Pramudwinai, who serves as the deputy prime minister, talked about the trilateral highway project’s next steps but also noted that there were numerous obstacles to overcome in order for it to be completed.

“Its implementation has undoubtedly been difficult in a number of ways. There are various reasons for it, but I reassured the deputy prime minister that India is deeply committed to the project and that we are moving forward.

Jaishankar, India and Thailand are cooperating on the highway and a system for the circulation of cars, and they also share a desire to collaborate with other nations to extend the route farther east.

We continue to work through the various obstacles that its implementation presents, and I sincerely hope the day will come when I will be able to drive to Bangkok from India rather than take a flight.

Work on the trilateral roadway has been hampered, people with knowledge of the situation, by the Covid-19 pandemic and the violence that followed the military takeover between the public broadcasters of the two nations.

In order to promote the expansion of bilateral trade and investment, Jaishankar and Pramudwinai claimed they also decided to re-energize institutional mechanisms such a joint trade committee and a business forum.