Thailand is looking forward to a convergence of its Look West policy with India’s Look East policy with the Northeastern region becoming the most vital bridge between the two, Commerce Minister of Thailand Krik-Krai Jirapet said here on Friday.Jirapet, who arrived here on Friday on a three-day trip of the Northeast with a host of officials and business leaders, also said that his country does not intend to compete with India but work in close collaboration beyond ASEAN for mutual benefit of both.“Thailand may not be a technology-driven economy. But we have definite expertise in the field of food processing, pipelines, power plants, and agro-based industry,” he said, urging trade and industry delegates from both sides to sit together and identify specific areas for collaboration.Jirapet, who happens to be the first minister of any foreign country to ever visit Tripura, said that the Look West policy which his country has been pursuing, should gel well with India’s Look East policy in order to bring about “significant” economic changes in South-East Asia.“However, it is not just that India and Thailand work together. What we actually need now is that the whole of Asia works together,” Jirapet said. He was prompt to remind India that one should not sit back and watch the rise of the West, China or Japan. “We cannot sit back and watch the West rise. Nor can we afford to just watch China or Japan rise. We are looking at integration of ASEAN, of India and Thailand, and also integration of Bangladesh into the economy,” he said.The Thai minister appreciated India’s eagerness to establish land routes to his country through Myanmar. But he admitted there were “potential” problems with Myanmar, which he said could be resolved if there was a more liberal regime in that country. Earlier, Union Minister of State for Commerce Jairam Ramesh underlined the need to pay greater attention to create economic linkages between the Northeast and its immediate neighbours—Myanmar, Bangladesh and Thailand. “The key to development of the Northeast is not through mere political integration of the region to rest of India, but through economic integration with South-East Asia,” Ramesh said.And as Jirapet hoped the situation in Myanmar would change, Ramesh expressed hope that the political situation in Bangladesh would change for mutual benefit of both countries. Ramesh and Minister for Development of Northeastern Region Mani Shankar Aiyar also reiterated India’s interest in developing the Sittwe port in Myanmar to counter Bangladesh’s refusal to provide access of the Chittagong port to the Northeast.
