In a bid to woo Thailand, PM Narendra Modi invokes Lord Buddha

NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday invoked both Buddha and B R Ambedkar to woo Thailand as Delhi rolled out double- entry visas to help Buddhist tourists from the key Southeast Asian country to cover the religious circuit in both India and Nepal. To make this journey smooth, Modi and his visiting Thai counterpart General Prayut Chan-o-cha also announced investments that Thai companies will make to develop the Buddhist Circuit and to construct five high-end hotels.

The common heritage of Buddhism was a key agenda for discussion between the two PMs besides expansion of security partnership, maritime ties, counter-terror ties and joint defence production. “…India is also celebrating 125th birth anniversary of Dr B R Ambedkar, the architect of Indian Constitution. I am delighted that the Indian Constitution will soon be translated into Thai language.

I am also happy to announce that to welcome more tourists from Thailand to India and to help them enjoy their visits to Buddhist sites in India, we will soon facilitate double entry e-tourist visas for citizens of Thailand,” Modi said in his press statement after talks with General Chan-o-cha in what could viewed as an emphasis on Ambedkar’s Buddhist legacy. In fact, the PM began his press statement by emphasising on the common Buddhist heritage.

“…You come from a land that is very familiar to us. From the Legend of Rama to the Wisdom of Buddha our ties are founded on a shared cultural heritage. Our historical people-to-people ties provide a strong basis to our partnership. Thailand is a trusted and valued friend, and one of our closest partners in Southeast Asia,” Modi said in his opening remarks with the Thai PM by his side. Expanding security and defence partnership was other highlights of the Indo-Thai dialogue.

They agreed to forge closer partnership in the fields of defence and maritime cooperation, security engagement and combating terrorism.