Thai PM holds bilateral talks with Bahraini and Pakistani leaders

KUWAIT, October 17 (TNA) - Thai Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra has held bilateral talks with the King of Bahrain and her Pakistani counterpart on the sidelines of this year's Asia Cooperation Dialogue (ACD) Summit, being held in Kuwait. Government Spokeswoman Sansanee Nakpong told journalists that during the bilateral meeting between the King of Bahrain and Premier Yingluck, both national leaders emphasized the expansion of bilateral partnership between Manama and Bangkok in the food, energy and financial sectors through the promotion of the Bahraini and Thai private sector and the use of cooperation mechanisms under the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), as Thailand and Bahrain are the centers of ASEAN and GCC respectively and the groupings will have their meetings in the near future. According to the spokesperson, the Thai prime minister, who is paying an official visit to Kuwait from October 15-18 to participate in the ACD summit 2012, later held bilateral talks with her Pakistani counterpart Raja Pervez Ashraf, during which they agreed to boost bilateral cooperation between Bangkok and Islamabad on trade and investment, as well as exchanged visits of their officials at all levels. The Thai premier also expressed gratitude towards Pakistan's support for the Thai government’s security solutions in the country's violence-plagued southern border region at the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC)'s stages, acknowledging that the Thai government has based the solutions on fair treatment and guidelines on understanding, contact and development for local people, advised by His Majesty King Bhumibol Adulyadej. The Pakistani prime minister shared his views that the reduction in injustice and the promotion of democracy could support the stability of a country. Besides, the Thai and Pakistani leaders agreed to organize a joint commission meeting between Pakistan and Thailand in January 2013. (TNA)