Ministry of External Affairs Government of India

His Excellency General Prayut Chan-o-cha is visiting India from 16-18 June 2016 on a state visit at the invitation of the Prime Minister of India. This is the first visit by General Prayut Chan-o-cha to India after becoming Prime Minster of Thailand on 26 May 2014. Prime Minister General Prayut will be accompanied by his spouse, Associate Professor Naraporn Chan-o-cha and a high-level delegation including Deputy Prime Minister, several cabinet ministers, senior officials and business leaders.

The Prime Minister of Thailand will arrive in New Delhi on 16 June 2016. The visiting dignitary will inspect a Guard of Honour at Rashtrapati Bhavan in the morning of 17 June and also lay a wreath at the Samadhi of Mahatma Gandhi. Minister of External Affairs Smt. Sushma Swaraj will call on the Thai PM.

The Thai PM will meet the Prime Minister and hold delegation level talks on 17 June. The PM will host a banquet lunch in honour of the visiting Thai PM and his delegation. The Thai PM will call on the Vice President Shri M Hamid Ansari. The Thai PM is expected to deliver a speech at the business event hosted by FICCI/CII/ASSOCHAM on 17 June. The India Thailand Joint Business Forum will hold their first meeting during the visit and convey their recommendations at the business event on 17 June. After New Delhi, the Thai PM will visit Bodhgaya on 18 June before departing for Thailand.

India's excellent relations with Thailand are an important and integral component of India's strategic partnership with ASEAN. India's 'Act East' policy is complemented by Thailand's 'Look West' policy in bringing the two countries closer. Sustained high level bilateral exchanges and regular meetings of bilateral institutional mechanisms have provided a major fillip to India-Thailand relations and achieved progress in key areas of cooperation such as security, defence, commerce, science & technology and education. India and Thailand have strong economic synergies and the diversifying profile of growing bilateral trade and investment reflects the growth and maturity of the interaction between the two economies. Extensive people-to-people contacts are central to the India-Thailand relationship. In 2015, more than 1 million Indian tourists visited Thailand and over 100,000 Thai tourists visited India.

New Delhi
16 June, 2016