On 21 - 26 September 2026, Mrs. Urasa Mongkolnavin, Director-General of the Department of South Asian, Middle East and African Affairs, led a delegation comprising academic representatives from Thammasat University, Prince of Songkla University, Ubon Ratchathani University, and Chulalongkorn University, for a visit to Assam, Meghalaya and New Delhi, India to promote educational cooperation between Thailand and India’s North Eastern Region (NER). The delegation was received as Guest of the State by the Governments of Assam and Meghalaya.

In Assam, the delegation held discussions with leading academic institutions, namely Assam Don Bosco University, National Institute of Pharmaceutical Education and Research Guwahati (NIPER-G), and Gauhati University. In Meghalaya, the delegation visited North Eastern Hill University (NEHU), the Indian Institute of Public Health, Shillong (IIPHS), and the Indian Institute of Management Shillong (IIM Shillong). They explored potential areas of cooperation in fields including public health, business administration, social sciences and linguistics.

The discussions identified a number of concrete areas for cooperation, including hybrid symposia, online training programmes, joint academic workshops and seminars, academic exchanges and joint research, and postgraduate scholarship opportunities. The delegation also discussed the use of Thai-language learning materials in Hindi and English, developed by the Thailand Foundation, to help overcome language barriers. In addition, the establishment of a Thai Study Center/Thai Corner at Gauhati University, as a collaboration between Thammasat University and Gauhati University, was discussed as a platform for academic, social and cultural learning and exchange. NEHU also proposed the establishment of an Indo-Thai Academic Center of Excellence with Thai academic institutions.

The Thai and Indian adademics underscored the importance of promoting knowledge exchange, expanding educational opportunities, strengthening academic capacity, and enhancing mutual understanding of the societies and cultures of Thailand and India.

During the visit, the delegation also participated in the “Brahmaputra - Chao Phraya Dialogue” organised by the Asian Confluence, under the themes “Building the Northeast’s Health, Education, Youth and Enterprise Bridge with Thailand” on 22 September 2026 at Assam Royal Global University in Guwahati, Assam, and in the dialogue “The Bay of Bengal, India - Thailand Relations and the Evolving Strategic Partnership” on 23 September 2026 at the Asian Confluence Center in Shillong, Meghalaya. The Director-General and faculty members from the four Thai universities joined the seminars as speakers, together with government representatives, academics and experts from India. They explored opportunities to further strengthen Thailand-India relations and cooperation, particularly in education and connectivity between the Bay of Bengal and Southeast Asia, as well as opportunities to promote the Thailand-India Strategic Partnership. The dialogues were also attended by Mr. Prashant Agrawal, Additional Secretary (South), Ministry of External Affairs of India, as well as former senior officials from the Ministry and a senior official from the Government of Assam, and representatives of academic institutions in the NER.

On 25 September 2026, the delegation met with representatives of the India Foundation, a think tank with close links to India’s policy making and political circles, to exchange views on regional developments, the advancement of Thailand-India relations under the Strategic Partnership, and opportunities for further academic cooperation. In addition, the delegation had a meeting with Mr. Kiran Mungthin, Chargé d’affaires, a.i., Royal Thai Embassy in New Delhi, to enhance coordination among the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Royal Thai Embassy in New Delhi, Thai academic institutions and relevant partners in India, with a view to further advancing cooperation with the NER in concrete and sustainable ways.  

The visit provided Thai academic institutions with an opportunity to establish direct networks with leading institutions in the NER and identify areas of mutual interest and potential cooperation. It also laid the groundwork for the conclusion of MOUs, student and academic exchanges, joint research, and joint training and seminars, thereby creating greater opportunities for education and capacity-building for students and academics of both countries, while promoting greater understanding of the languages, societies and cultures of Thailand and India.

Education, tourism and cultural cooperation is one of the key areas of the Thailand-India Strategic Partnership. Promoting engagement with the NER, a strategic gateway connecting India with Southeast Asia, therefore represents an important avenue for broadening Thailand-India cooperation at both the people-to-people and institutional levels. The cooperation initiated during the visit will contribute to developing concrete projects to commemorate the 80^th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between Thailand and India in 2027, and further to ASEAN-India cooperation during Thailand’s ASEAN Chairmanship in 2028.