Nation’s foreign policy rebalancing defended
There is nothing wrong with Thailand rebalancing its foreign policies towards the three super powers, China, Russia and the United States (US), Panitan Wattanayagorn, adviser to Deputy Prime Minister Prawit Wongsuwon has said.
Panithan was referring to Deputy Prime Ministers Somkid Jatusripitak and Prawit Wongsuwan’s official visit to Russia and Belarus from Tuesday until Saturday to achieve expansion in cooperation over security, economic, trade and investment.
This will be the first official visit between Thailand and Russia since a visit by Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev to Thailand last April.
“Even the US adopts rebalancing policies. It is not strange that Thailand also re-balances our foreign policies. But this does not mean we will replace the US with Russia or China. We have overlapping ties with every country,’’ he said.
Panithan said during the balancing act, Thailand would have to be careful not to adversely affect military ties with the US, which the country has always given first priority. He said Thailand’s relations with China over security have been upgraded after the two countries agreed on an extradition treaty.
“Almost ten million Chinese visit Thailand, if we do not have this, we would not be able to deal with related threats,’’ he said.
About 1.7 million Russians visit Thailand annually, according to Panithan.
The reason both Somkid and Prawit have to pay an official visit to Russia together was because of expected negotiations on currency issues. “There is a need to negotiate because Russia does not want to accept US dollars from bilateral trade,’’ he said.
RELATED