Hua Hin (Thailand) Archive

Hua Hin (Thailand), Oct 23 – Thailand is eager to learn how Sri Lanka crushed the Tamil Tigers in order to see if the same methods can be used to battle Muslim insurgency in its south, a newspaper reported Friday.

The Bangkok Post said Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva discussed with his Sri Lanka counterpart Ratnasiri Wickramanayaka Thursday Colombo’s ‘success in putting down the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) movement’.

The daily said the Thai government was ‘considering adopting techniques used by Sri Lanka in dealing with the Tamil Tiger rebels in its efforts to contain the (Muslim) insurgency in the south’.

‘Tough crackdowns were also key to Sri Lanka’s success in its fight against the rebels, which should serve as a good lesson for Thailand,’ a government spokesman was quoted as saying.

Sri Lanka crushed the LTTE in May this year by launching a prolonged military offensive that led to the annihilation of the group’s leadership including Velupillai Prabhakaran, who founded the Tamil Tigers in 1976.

Hua Hin (Thailand), Oct 23 – Prime Minister Manmohan Singh Friday pledged to deepen India’s wide-ranging relations with East and Southeast Asia as he prepared to take part in the seventh India-Asean Summit and the fourth East Asia Summit in this Thai resort.

In a statement ahead of his departure from New Delhi and also released here, Manmohan Singh, who will arrive here later Friday, said he also planned bilateral meetings with leaders with seven countries including China.

The prime minister said he would discuss greater economic integration, people-to-people contracts, agriculture, science and technology and information and communications technology with leaders of the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean).

Manmohan Singh said: ‘India’s enhanced engagement with the ASEAN is at the heart of our ‘Look East’ policy. The conclusion of the India-ASEAN trade-in-goods agreement in August is a major first step in our objective of creating an India-ASEAN regional trade and investment area.’

India-ASEAN trade has grown at a healthy rate and stood of about $48 billion in 2008, Manmohan Singh said, adding that he would inform leaders about the initiatives India has taken to qualitatively enhance its partnership in diverse areas of cooperation.

The India-Asean Summit is due to take place Saturday. In August, India and ASEAN signed a Free Trade Agreement (FTA) and both are looking to ink a similar pact in the field of services and investment.

On Sunday, Manmohan Singh said he will attend the East Asia Summit which ‘will review cooperation in five key areas – energy, education, finance, avian influenza and national disaster management’.

The prime minister said the summit will review cooperation in five key areas – energy, education, finance, avian influenza and national disaster mitigation.

The East Asia Summit brings together the Asean countries as well as Australia, New Zealand, India, China, Japan and South Korea.

Asia’s response to the global economic slowdown, food security, energy security and climate change will be important issues of discussion, he added.

The prime minister expressed the hope that Asean and other countries of East Asia would endorse the proposal to establish the Nalanda University in Bihar as an international institution of excellence in education.

The Indian leader returns home Sunday night.

Hua Hin (Thailand), Oct 23 – Leaders of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations inaugurated the ASEAN Intergovernmental Commission on Human Rights (AICHR) in the summit held here Friday, Xinhua reported.

The leaders announced ‘Cha-am Hua Hin Declaration on the Inauguration of the AICHR’ to pledge full support to this new ASEAN body and emphasise their commitment to further develop cooperation to promote and protect human rights in the region, according to a press release issued Friday.

They also pledged to provide $200,000 for a start up fund to support activities of the AICHR during its first year of operation, which will be topped up later by annual contribution from member states as well as contribution from external sources.

The body will hold its introductory meeting Saturday.

‘The commission will link the ASEAN country members closer,’ ASEAN Secretary-General Surin Pitsuwan told reporters Wednesday.

The body, now composed of nine representatives, will be chaired by the representative of the member state holding the ASEAN chairmanship.

ASEAN foreign ministers adopted Terms of Reference (ToR) of AICHR in July, clearing the way for the body’s formal establishment in the summit.

‘In conforming with the purposes and principles of the ASEAN charter relating to the promotion and protection of human rights and fundamental freedoms, ASEAN shall establish an ASEAN human rights body,’ reads the ASEAN charter.

The ASEAN groups Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam while the six dialogue partners are China, India, Japan, Australia, New Zealand and South Korea.

Hua Hin (Thailand), Oct 23 – Amid strained bilateral ties, Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh Friday said he will meet with his Chinese counterpart Wen Jiabo on the sidelines of the India-Asean and East Asia summits here.

Manmohan Singh said in a statement ahead of his departure from New Delhi for this Thai resort that Wen would be one of seven East Asia leaders with whom he would hold bilateral discussions.

The Indian leader did not say when the meeting would take place, but diplomats said Manmohan Singh and Wen were expected to meet in the early part of Saturday.

It would be the first meeting of leaders of the two countries since relations between India and China took a beating in the past one month over accusations and counter-accusations surrounding their unresolved border dispute.

China has publicly opposed Manmohan Singh’s visit to Arunachal Pradesh, a sprawling northeastern Indian state which Beijing claims as its own. It has also come out strongly against the proposed November visit to Arunachal Pradesh by Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama, who lives in self-exile in India.

Indian officials have say the Dalai Lama, whose government-in-exile is based in Dharamsala town, is free to visit any part of India, where he has lived since fleeing his homeland in 1959 after a failed revolt against Chinese Communist rule.

New Delhi has also criticized Beijing’s decision to undertake projects in Pakistani Kashmir, saying this would impact negatively on India-China relations.

India and China fought a war in 1962 and claim each other’s territory. Several rounds of talks have failed to resolve the dispute.

Hua Hin (Thailand), Oct 23 – Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva Friday called on ASEAN leaders to set a clear vision of what the association wants to achieve in the year 2015 and beyond, Xinhua reported.

At the opening ceremony of the 15th ASEAN Summit and Related summits here, Abhisit said: ‘Much has been discussed about realising an ASEAN Community – one that is a community of action, a community of connectivity, and a community of people.

‘What we need to do is to collectively set a clear vision of what we want to achieve in the year 2015 and beyond.’

Abhisit said his vision of ASEAN is a community of action which is able to act decisively and in a timely manner to threats and challenges facing ASEAN.

The official theme for the summit is ‘Enhancing Connectivity, Empowering Peoples’, which underlines the importance attached to the improvement of connectivity, both physically and spiritually, as well as the betterment of the lives of all ASEAN people.

ASEAN groups Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Vietnam, as well as the host, Thailand, while the six dialogue partners are China, India, Japan, Australia, New Zealand and South Korea.

Highlights for the summits include the inauguration of the ASEAN Intergovernmental Commission on Human Rights, the adoption of a declaration on climate change to reaffirm ASEAN position in the negotiation under the UN Frameworks Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) as well as the adoption of a declaration on education cooperation to achieve an ASEAN Community.