BANGKOK, 6 June 2013 Thailand’s Defense Minister Air Chief Marshal Sukumpol Suwanatat on Thursday welcomed his Indian counterpart AK Antony during his official visit to Thailand.
Mr Antony has been on a 4-day visit to Asia-Pacific countries, which include Singapore, Australia and Thailand. His day-long visit came a week after Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s visit to Thailand.
The discussion between Mr Antony and ACM Sukumpol was focused on reviewing bilateral ties and deliberating on means to enhance the existing mechanisms for exchanges between the armed forces and joint patrols of both nations along their maritime boundary.
India and Thailand held the first meeting of the India-Thailand Defense Dialogue in 2011. The two sides have cooperated in a number of areas, including the battle against terrorism and piracy and the enhancement of the armed forces’ capacity. A defense dialogue was conducted between the two countries in February of this year, where they agreed to scale up the regular Coordinated Patrol (CORPAT) conducted by the Indian Navy and the Royal Thai Navy.
