Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Parnpree Bahiddha-Nukara had a bilateral meeting with U.S. Secretary of State in Washington, D.C.
He met with U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken during his official visit to the U.S. at the invitation of the Secretary.
Both sides agreed to push forward the cooperation under the Communique on Strategic Alliance and Partnership, especially on defense. The 2nd Strategic and Defense Dialogue (2+2) will be held in Bangkok between 28-29 February this year on enhancing economic partnership, especially trade and investment as well as efforts to address climate change.
Both sides also exchanged views on the situation in the region, especially the geopolitical landscape and the situation in Myanmar. The U.S. welcomed Thailand’s efforts to ease the situation, including Thailand’s humanitarian initiative.
The meeting also discussed developments in other regions, which include situations in Israel, Ukraine, and the efforts to help the release of Thai hostages in Gaza. The Thai side also took this opportunity to seek the U.S.’ support for Thailand’s candidature for the UN Human Rights Council membership for the 2025-2027 term.
At the U.S. Department of Commerce, Parnpree discussed with Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo. The key points of discussion were the exchange of information and avenues to promote cooperation in trade and investment, including supply chain partnership in various industries, clean energy, digital economy and Thailand’s Land Bridge project. They also discussed cooperation under the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework.
Earlier the Thai Deputy Prime Minister also met Senator Christopher Van Hollen. They discussed Thai-US relations and situation in Myanmar. Sen. Van Hollen admired Thailand’s humanitarian initiative to help Myanmar people and shared his concern about remaining Thai hostages in Gaza. Both sides welcomed establishment of US-Thai Alliance Caucus in House of Reps. Sen. Van Hollen also supports idea of having similar cooperation in Senate.
Then, he met with Senator Ladda Tammy Duckworth. He thanked for the friendship and support of the Thai community in the United States, including sponsorship for senate resolution to celebrate 190 years of diplomatic relations. The two sides also discussed promoting cooperation in military affairs and requested an increase in the quota for Thai military personnel to attend US military academy, military modernization and cooperation in military medical training. -819 (TNA)
