~It is a great honour to have this opportunity to address the Parliament of a fellow democracy in Asia. I am deeply touched by the knowledge that this is the first time any foreign leader has been given the privilege of addressing the National Assembly of the Kingdom of Thailand. It is a symbol of the traditional ties and cultural affinities between our two countries and an expression of your warm friendship and gracious hospitality.

As a Parliamentary colleague, I bring you the greetings of the Indian Parliament, and of the people it represents. For me, Parliament has been a second home for 46 years. Of course, I spent forty of these years on the Opposition benches, so I can speak with knowledge of both sides! It has shaped my appreciation of the precious gift of parliamentary democracy, which both India and Thailand enjoy.

While we are both democracies, the structures of governance in our countries are based on our unique national characteristics. Our country is a Republic; yours is a Constitutional Monarchy, guided by His Majesty the King. For you, this is ‘Rama Rajya’, an expression that has profound meaning for all Indians.

Relations between India and Thailand go back into antiquity. They are based on the firm foundations of a shared heritage. We still share familiar cultural traditions, including festivals.

In some weeks, we in India will celebrate the festival of lights, which we call Deepavali. Two weeks after that, the rivers of Thailand will be alight with lanterns for Loy Krathong, which we observe as Kartik Purnima.

Over centuries, the profound message of Lord Buddha has motivated generations of scholars, monks and pilgrims to visit holy Buddhist shrines in India.

Over the last century, we appreciated the quiet support of the Thai people for our struggle for freedom. Our great freedom fighter, Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose, and – before him – members of the revolutionary Ghadar Party, found understanding, support and shelter in this city.

Today, our two countries are dealing with similar issues of governance. Our approaches and solutions may differ, but our objectives are the same. Even while accepting the economic discipline of globalisation, both our nations have pursued policies aimed at lifting our people from poverty. We have sought to harness science and technology to accelerate growth and development. Both our countries seek to achieve these goals through the democratic process.

We are both grappling with complex matters in this era of globalisation. We are contending with questions on the right approach to crucial – and sometimes painful – issues of reform and restructuring. We face the challenge of preserving our cultural identity and environment in an age of rapid development and change.

We in India admire Thailand’s many strengths. You have optimally utilized the abundant natural resources of this land to ensure food security. Thailand is now recognized for the export of world-class agricultural produce, as well as products such as rubber, flowers, fruit, and processed foods. Your country is justly famous for establishing global benchmarks for tourism. Modern technology has been successfully combined with the Thai tradition of commerce to make Thailand a source of quality manufactured products. Sustainable development has been promoted through the Royal Projects under His Majesty’s guidance.

We have also valued the policies that have enabled the community of persons of Indian origin to flourish here and to make a contribution to economic growth, cultural interaction and charitable work in Thailand. They serve as a bridge between our countries.

India has rejuvenated its policy of comprehensively upgrading ties with its eastern neighbours. Thailand is an important link in India’s increasing engagement with its extended neighbourhood in East and South East Asia. We are determined to increase our mutually beneficial partnership both bilaterally and multilaterally. It is in our common interest to promote regional cooperation through the Asian Cooperation Dialogue, in BIMST-EC, and in the Mekong-Ganga Cooperation initiative.

I am coming here after participating at the second India-ASEAN Summit in Bali. Thailand’s support has been crucial in enabling us to widen and deepen our interaction with the nations of South East Asia.

The expansion of our bilateral partnership has a self-evident logic. Our population of one billion people makes for a large and diversified market for Thai firms. Our economic reform programme is transforming India in significant, and even dramatic ways, creating new openings for Indian and foreign players.

Our complementary strengths provide us with a solid foundation for developing cooperative ties. Our skills in the software industry are well-matched by your emerging strengths in the hardware segment of the Information Technology industry. As one of six countries in the world with indigenously developed end-to-end space capabilities, we can cooperate with you to utilize space technology for development. And as Thailand’s expertise in infrastructure development and tourism promotion continues to grow, your firms will find that there is massive demand in India for such capabilities.

As open democratic societies, India and Thailand are also increasingly at risk from the forces that exploit the freedoms of our societies to wage war on us. The scourge of terror is not limited to a few regions of the world; it is a global problem. The ugly face of terrorism is now seen increasingly even in South East Asia. It has been with us in India for over two decades.

Being maritime neighbours, we have a common interest in both the economic development of our neighbourhood, as also in the security of the waterways. We need to eradicate organized crime, piracy, drug trafficking, counterfeiting and other such elements from our region. We should join forces to ensure that the Bay of Bengal and the Andaman Sea area becomes a zone of genuine peace and development.

Earlier today, our two countries signed several agreements, including a framework agreement to develop a free trade area between our countries. This is the first such Agreement that we have signed with an ASEAN country. It is our conviction that it will profoundly transform our bilateral economic relations.

Our two governments also signed several documents for cooperation in fields ranging from agriculture and biotechnology to tourism. India has suggested a twin-city relationship between Phuket in Thailand and Port Blair in India, which face each other across the Andaman Sea. This can promote the idea of cross-regional tourism linkages which we should promote in all of Asia. We have taken important decisions to strengthen air connectivity between our two countries. We have also decided to set up cultural centres in our respective capitals. Together, these elements reinforce the substantive framework of cooperation between our two countries.

The historical traditions and ideas that have linked us also inspire us in crafting our modern relationship. Let our nations move towards a convergence of the ancient and the contemporary in a manner that strengthens the confidence of our peoples through mutual support and respect in the concluding words of our respective anthems.

Thank you.~