Bangkok, 2 April

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will arrive here on Thursday on a two-day visit, during which he will hold talks with his Thai counterpart Paetongtarn Shinawatra and attend the 6th BIMSTEC Summit.

Modi will be given a grand welcome by the Indian community in Thailand and is scheduled to meet Shinawatra at the Government House, where he will be accorded a ceremonial welcome.

On Thursday evening, the Prime Minister will join the BIMSTEC (Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation) leaders from Thailand, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Myanmar and Bhutan to oversee the signing of the Agreement on Maritime Cooperation.

The BIMSTEC summit will bring Modi face to face with Nepal Prime Minister K P Sharma Oli, Bangladesh Chief Adviser Muhammad Yunus and Myanmar military junta leader Min Aung Hlaing, among others.

"He will join the meeting on the day of the summit,” Thai Foreign Ministry spokesperson Nikorndej Balankura said on Wednesday, referring to the Myanmar leader.

Myanmar is grappling with the aftermath of the massive earthquake that devastated the second-largest city, Mandalay, and other parts of the country last week.

This would be the first physical meeting of the BIMSTEC leaders since the 4th BIMSTEC Summit in Kathmandu, Nepal in 2018. The last summit was held in Colombo in March 2022 in a virtual format.

On Friday, Modi will call on Thai King Maha Vajiralongkorn, also known as Rama X, and Queen Suthida.

Prime Minister Modi and his Thai counterpart Shinawatra are scheduled to visit Wat Pho, one of the top six temples in Thailand that is famous for its massive reclining Buddha statue.

Besides the gigantic reclining Buddha, the temple is well known for numerous Buddha images all around it. It was the first centre in Thailand for public education, offering science, religion and literature courses.

The Prime Minister will attend the BIMSTEC Summit on Friday morning, where the regional grouping is expected to adopt the Bangkok Vision 2030.

Eksiri Pintaruchi, the permanent secretary for foreign affairs in the Thai government, said that the theme of 'Pro-active, Resilient and Open BIMSTEC' was the highlight of Thailand’s chairmanship of the regional grouping.

She said the Bangkok Vision 2030 is based on the PRO BIMSTEC concept and is one of the deliverable outcomes of the Thai Chairmanship.

The vision document seeks to set a clear direction and goals for BIMSTEC cooperation, identify key priorities for achieving these goals, promote BIMSTEC as a region of peace, stability and economic sustainability, and enhance cooperation on adaptation to mitigate the impacts of climate change.

The Senior Officials Meeting on Wednesday also condoled the deaths due to the massive earthquake in Myanmar and Bangkok. A joint statement of the leaders on the impact of the earthquake could be considered at the summit.