Bangkok, June 15

India and Thailand are set to firm up cooperation to combat terrorism, and boost maritime security, defence ties and trade during Thai Prime Minister General Prayuth Chan-ocha’s maiden visit to India, officials said on Wednesday.

The Thai premier will hold talks with Prime Minister Narendra Modi during his three-day visit beginning on Thursday.

The two countries will issue a joint statement later, expressing their expectations to increase maritime security, double trade in five years, push the India-Myanmar-Thai road project, cooperate in civil aviation, fight cybercrime and promote people-to-people cooperation, said Maj-General Werachon Sukondhapatipak, a deputy Thai government spokesman.

Werachon said talks with India would focus on issues such as trade, support for Thai agricultural products and cooperation on education and tourism.

He said Gen Prayuth has said to put all items high on agenda. A high-level delegation will discuss boosting cultural exchanges between the two nations.

India and Thailand will also look for joint projects in solar energy, space applications and space technology sectors.

“Thailand is an extremely important partner and the two sides attach a lot of importance to this visit,” India’s Ambassador to Thailand Bhagwant Bishnoi said.

Bishnoi said that India’s ‘Act East’ and Thailand’s ‘Look West’ policies complemented each other and that India was looking forward to signing several agreements, MoUs on narcotics, cultural exchange with Thailand during the visit.

A Thailand-India Free Trade Agreement will be discussed.

“We are looking forward to a substantial joint statement which would talk of other agreements in the pipeline,” Bishnoi said, and added that Thailand is also keen on India’s ‘Make in India’ programme.

He said India appreciated the fact that Thailand was “very sensitive” to India’s security concerns and ensured that Thai territory was not used by forces inimical to India.

Prayut will be accompanied by Thai foreign minister, Agriculture Minister, Industries minister, IT minister and Deputy Minister of Commerce.

The total trade between the two countries stands at USD 8.5 billion. In 2015, Thai exports to India were USD 5.30 billion while Thai imports from India were USD 2.63 billion.

At least 1.1 million Indian tourists visited Thailand last year. — PTI

Chinese spy ship shadows Malabar naval drill in Pacific

Tokyo, June 15

A Chinese navy spy ship on Wednesday entered Japan’s territorial waters for the first time in over a decade while tailing two Indian naval ships during trilateral Malabar naval exercise attended by the US, India and Japan.

Japanese P-3C patrol aircraft spotted the Dongdiao-class intelligence vessel sailing in territorial waters to the west of Kuchinoerabu Island at around 3.30 am (1830 GMT Tuesday), Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary Hiroshige Seko told reporters.

The ship travelled on a southeasterly bearing and left Japan’s territorial waters south of the prefecture’s Yakushima Island around 5 am, Kyodo news agency quoted Seko as saying.

It was for the first time that a Chinese spy ship was detected in Japanese water since a submarine was spotted in 2004. The latest intrusion came less than a week after another Chinese naval vessel sailed near islands at the centre of a Tokyo-Beijing sovereignty dispute in the East China Sea.

“The Chinese military vessel moved in after an Indian ship sailed into Japan’s territorial waters as it participated in a Japan-US-India joint exercise,” Defence Minister Gen Nakatani told reporters.

A senior Foreign Ministry official lodged a protest with the Chinese Embassy here over its military activities in view of latest intrusion.

“We are concerned about the Chinese military’s recent activities,” Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida told reporters.

Japanese officials said they are analysing China’s possible motives behind the two actions.

“The government will continue to exert every effort in warning and surveillance activities in the waters and airspace surrounding the country,” Seko said.

As to the spy vessel’s case on Wednesday, the Defense Ministry said it entered the waters while tracking two Indian naval ships that were participating in ongoing Malabar naval drills.

In Beijing, Chinese officials defended the naval vessel’s entry into the waters saying the passage was in line with the principle of freedom of navigation and international rules.

Under international law, ships of all countries, including military ones, are entitled to the right of “innocent passage” through territorial waters as long as it would not undermine others’ security.

“There is no need to provide notification or to get authorisation in advance,” Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Lu Kang said in Beijing.

“So if Japan insists on hyping up this issue in the media, we have to question its motives.” PT