By IANS
New Delhi : Thailand Prime Minister Surayud Chulanont Monday began his three-day state visit to India during which the two countries are expected to sign two pacts in the areas of energy and culture and intensify negotiations for a free trade agreement.
General Surayud was warmly received at the airport by Minister of State for External Affairs E. Ahamed Monday evening.
Thailand is home to nearly a 100,000-strong Indian diaspora.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh will hold talks with his Thai counterpart on a broad array of bilateral, regional and global issues, including intensification of trade and investment between the two countries.
Both leaders are also expected to discuss issues relating to the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), BIMSTEC,the Bay of Bengal Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic and the Mekong-Ganga Cooperation project – subregional groupings of which India and Thailand are members.
New Delhi has shown realism in dealing with the military dispensation in Bangkok, which sacked the democratically elected government led by the flamboyant Thaksin Sinawatra in September last year, and has not allowed this to affect the pace of its growing economic engagement with this important ASEAN country.
Gen. Surayud will also meet President A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee and Commerce Minister Kamal Nath and discuss with them a host of bilateral and global issues.
The focus of Surayud's visit is predominantly economic as Thailand seeks active economic partnership with India around a free trade agreement to counterbalance its growing trade with China.
He is also likely to press India to increase Bangkok-Mumbai and Bangkok-New Delhi flights.
India is currently Thailand's largest trade partner in South Asia, with trade over $3 billion last year. Thailand's trade with China was estimated to be $25.1 billion last year – way ahead of its bilateral trade with India.
Besides visiting Delhi and Kolkata, Surayud will also go to the Hindu holy city of Varanasi and nearby Sarnath where Lord Buddha first unveiled his discourses on enlightenment.