PM Modi to leave for Sri Lanka after BIMSTEC Summit in Thailand

Prime Minister Narendra Modi is on a two-day visit to Thailand. After this, PM Modi will leave for Sri Lanka on Friday. On his arrival at the Government House on Thursday, Prime Minister Modi was received by Thai Prime Minister Patongtarn Shinawatra and accorded a ceremonial welcome.

This was the second meeting between the two leaders. Earlier, the two leaders had met on the sidelines of the ASEAN-related summit in Vientiane in October 2024. On Thursday, in the capital Bangkok, the Prime Minister held bilateral talks with the Prime Minister of Thailand and participated in several events.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will attend the 6th BIMSTEC Summit today. The summit will be attended by leaders of Bangladesh, Bhutan, Myanmar, Nepal, Sri Lanka and Thailand. It is believed that this visit of PM Modi to Thailand and Sri Lanka will help in thwarting the devious moves of China, Bangladesh and Pakistan. Several important agreements have been signed between India and Thailand on Thursday. External Affairs Minister Dr S Jaishankar was also present on the occasion.

India-Thailand relations are centuries old.

From Bangkok, PM Modi gave the message of India’s development policy to the world and said that we believe in the policy of development, not expansionism. PM Modi talked about the strategic partnership of India-Thailand relations and how Bangkok has a special place in India’s’ Act East ‘policy. Talking about the cultural and spiritual ties between India and Thailand, PM Modi said that India and Thailand have age-old ties. Both countries are bound by deep cultural and spiritual bonds.

The Bangkok government issued a special postage stamp based on the 18th century ‘Ramayana’ mural paintings to mark Modi’s visit. Prime Minister Narendra Modi had thanked them. India and Thailand are maritime neighbours with strong cultural, linguistic and religious ties. These include the Ramayana and Buddhism.

A timeless impression and graceful symbol of our shared cultural relations!

The Thai Government has released an iStamp on themes relating to the Ramayana. The stamp depicts Ramakien mural paintings that were painted during the reign of King Rama I. pic.twitter.com/MTTdTtr9M0

— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) April 3, 2025

PM’s three-day visit to Sri Lanka

After attending the BIMSTEC Summit, PM Modi will leave for a three-day visit to Sri Lanka on Friday. It will focus on strengthening cooperation in the areas of energy, trade and connectivity, including strengthening bilateral defence ties. Prime Minister Narendra Modi with Sri Lankan President Anura Kumara Dissanayake. The two leaders are expected to sign a major defence cooperation agreement as China seeks to increase its military influence over Sri Lanka.

The incident of anchoring of Chinese missile and satellite tracking ship ‘Yuan Wang’ at the Hambantota port in August 2022 has triggered a diplomatic row between India and Sri Lanka. This was followed by another Chinese warship anchored at the Colombo Port in August 2023.