On 28 January 2023, Ms. Acharapan Yavaprapas, Consul-General of Thailand in Kolkata was invited as Guest of Honour to participate in the ‘Seminar on Indo-Thai Relations’ co-organised by the Institute of Social and Cultural Studies (ISCS) and the Maulana Abul Kalam Azad Institute of Asian Studies (MAKAIAS) at the Indian Council of Cultural Relations (ICCR), Kolkata. The Seminar was chaired by His Excellency Mr. Anil Wadhwa, former Indian Ambassador to Thailand and attended by around 50 participants.

This seminar was part of the celebration of Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav or the 75^th Anniversary of India’s Independence with the objectives to promote wider understanding on the history of India-Thailand relations and to provide recommendations for future bilateral cooperation. ISCS was established in 2010 to promote researches and academic activities on social and cultural issues. On the other hand, MAKAIAS was established in 1993 as an autonomous body under the Ministry of Culture of India focusing on researches and studies in Asian region.  

In her opening remarks, Consul-General highlighted many examples of age-old social and cultural ties between India and Thailand such as the transformation of Indian epic Ramayana into Thai Ramakien, the continuing influence of Sanskrit in Thai vocabularies, Buddhist pilgrimage, and the exchange of visits between both countries’ important figures especially the Royal Visit to India by His Majesty King Chulalongkorn or King Rama V, and the visit to Siam by Gurudev Rabindranath Tagore, Nobel laureate in literature and one of the Founding Fathers of the Republic of India. Moreover, the ‘Thai Gallery’ was inaugurated in 2022 to commemorate Tagore’s visit to Siam under collaboration between the Royal Thai Consulate-General in Kolkata and Rabindra Bharati Museum.          

Ambassador Anil Wadhwa underscored the complementary nature of India’s Act East Policy and Thailand’s Look West Policy; Thailand’s role as India’s vital partner in regional cooperation such as ASEAN-India, Mekong-Ganga, and BIMSTEC which Thailand is the current chair; the increasing trend of bilateral trade and investment; and Buddhist ties, which the Indian Embassy in Bangkok organised the exhibition ‘Bhuddha Bhumi India – Travelling in the Footsteps of Buddha’ in 2022. In addition, the Ambassador also expressed hope that both countries would enhance cooperation on the issue of Connectivity particularly the India-Myanmar-Thailand Trilateral Highway Project.

Three other speakers were Dr. Uttam Sinha, Head of Non-Traditional Security Centre, Manohar Parrikar Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses (IDSA); Dr. Rajiv Nayan, Asian Security and Defence Analyst, IDSA; and Mr. Soumya Bhomwick, Associate Fellow, Observer Research Foundation (ORF). They exchanged views extensively on how to instill more dynamism into India-Thailand cooperation by utilising the existing social and cultural affinity.