In what is certain to raise Beijing’s concerns, India and Thailand inked an MoU on defence cooperation here on Wednesday while also talking about elevating their bilateral relations to a “strategic partnership”. The defence pact, which has been in the pipeline for over a decade, will see the “maritime neighbours” work together in “addressing shared challenges and concerns”.
The MoU on defence cooperation was one of the six agreements that were signed on Wednesday during the on-going visit of Thai Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra. While the two countries have been cooperating in defence, the MoU which has been under discussion since 1999 formalises the arrangement.
In a joint statement issued after the signing of the six agreements, the two sides said that the MoU will “help both sides to further streamline and facilitate this process on matters of mutual concern” while also taking note of the on-going cooperation between the two country’s Navies in conducting joint patrols.
The significance of cooperation between the two countries by virtue of being maritime neighbours was mentioned by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh too in his speech at the banquet hosted for Ms Shinawatra. The Prime Minister noted, “both India and Thailand face common security threats from emerging non-traditional challenges such as terrorism, security of sea lanes of communication and piracy”.
In other remarks to the media, Dr Singh said that India and Thailand have decided to “step up bilateral cooperation and exchanges in the fields of defence, counter-terrorism and security”.