BY DEBAJYOTI CHAKRABORTY
KOLKATA, 23 JULY 2022
The Embassy of India has announced the organising of the three day long , second edition of the North Eastern India Festival -2022 at Central World in Bangkok of Thailand to mark the 75 th year of celebrations of the diplomatic relationship between the Land of Smiles and Incredible India.
The North East India comprises the seven sisters- Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Sikkim and Tripura.
“ After the grand success of the first edition in 2019, the 2 nd edition of North East India Festival is back in Thailand. Come and join the celebration of North east India Festival. Dance, Music, Art, Fashion and much more !,”tweets Indian Embassy in Thailand.
The North East India Festival 2022 will focus on trade, investment, tourism promotion, cultural exchanges, education, and people to people connect.
An exhibition showcasing the MSME sector products of North eastern states like agro products, processed food, tea, handicrafts, light manufacturing etc will also be organised.
To further boost the tourism sector a B2B meet and trade meet will also take place on 30 July at Bangkok to create further awareness and explore investment opportunities in North East India.
The first edition, which was held in 2019, has opened up substantial business opportunities mostly in the tourism sector and agro food processing, Indian Embassy sources said. Prime Minister Narendra Modi was present in the Town Hall programme in 2019 and had said that it was the first time such an event was showcased outside India to develop a bond between North east India and South East Asia.
This year, union minister of state for external affairs, Dr.Rajkumar Ranjan Singh will be the chief guest. The chief ministers of all the seven sister states of North east India will also be present along with top officials.
Top officials and dignitaries of Thailand will also be present during the three days festival.
The list of large contingent of artists, musicians, dancers, craftsmen, exhibitors, business persons, tour operators, academicians are expected to participate from the North East India states. Students, scholars, historians of South East Asia will also be present.
Indian Council For Cultural Relations ( ICCR) will sponsor the best dance troupes for the cultural festival to be held on 30 and 31 July at Zone B and Zone C of Central World, Bangkok.
North eastern state government, Indian Embassy in Thailand are supporting the second edition of North East Festival initiatives which is organised by Socio –Cultural Trust, Trend MMS.
Sources said that CM of Meghalaya, Conrad Sangma, CM of Nagaland, Neiphiu Rio, Deputy CM of Arunachal Pradesh, Chowna Mein, Tourism minister of Mizoram, Robert Romania Royte, Assam minister of handloom and textiles, Urkhao Gwra Brahma have already confirmed their participations. Bureaucrats and top officials of the Royal government of Thailand will also be present.Governor of Bangkok, Chadchart Sittipunt , ambassadors of various QUAD and ASEAN countries will also participate.
The focus this time is on the Tai culture of North East India. As per the vision of Act East Policy of the Narendra Modi government, a series of B2B meetings will take place for promotion of bilateral trade.
Famous rock bands of both Thailand and North East India will participate.
The Indo – Thai relationship was established in 1947, soon after India gained independence. Cultural links of Thai priests to India date back to 1500 BCE. India shares a long sea border with Thailand as India’s Andaman and Nicobar Islands share a maritime border with Thailand along the Andaman Sea.
The past few years since 2001 have witnessed growing warmth, increasing economic and commercial links, exchange of high-level visits on both sides, and the signing of various agreements leading to a further intensification of relations. Thailand and India are cooperating in various multilateral fora like India’s dialogue partnership with ASEAN, the ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF), and the East Asia Summit, the sub-regional grouping BIMSTEC involving Bangladesh, India, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Myanmar, Nepal and Bhutan, and trilateral transport linkages with Thailand, Myanmar and India. India is a member of the Asia Cooperation Dialogue (ACD) initiated by Thailand in 2002 and of the Mekong Ganga Cooperation (MGC), a group of six countries.
The Thai embassy in India is located in New Delhi, with three consulates in Mumbai, Kolkata, and Chennai. India holds its embassy in Bangkok and one consulate in Chiang Mai.
Moreover, India and Thailand have been culturally linked for centuries and India has had a deep influence on Thai culture. There are a substantial number of words in Thai that are borrowed from Sanskrit, India’s classical language. Pali, which was the language of Magadha and the medium of Theravada, is another important root of Thai vocabulary. Buddhism, the major religion of Thailand, itself originates from India. The Hindu story of Ramayana is also well known throughout Thailand in the name Ramakien.
CentralWorld is the largest lifestyle shopping complex in South East Asia, which has often been considered as the shopping hub of Asia.
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