EMBASSY OF INDIA

BANGKOK

Press Release

INDIA@75

Launch of the Thai Language Translation of the Constitution of India

The Embassy of India in Thailand organised an event on 12 March 2021 in which H.E. Mr. Chuan Leekpai, President of the National Assembly and Speaker of the House of Representatives of the Kingdom of Thailand, along with other dignitaries, formally released the Thai language translation of the Constitution of India. The event coincided with the official launch in India of the 75^th anniversary celebrations of India’s independence by the Prime Minister of India on 12 March 2021 with flagging off of the ‘Padayatra’ (Freedom March) and inauguration of curtain raising activities of the ‘Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav’ (India@75).

Mrs. Suchitra Durai, Ambassador of India to the Kingdom of Thailand, in her address, stated that India@75 has been launched on a historic day when the Father of the Indian Nation, Mahatma Gandhi, launched the Dandi March in 1930. In her remarks, she referred to the Constitution of India as the mother document for India’s existence as an independent country. She also said that India was fulfilling a bilateral commitment that was made during H.E. Prime Minister Gen. Prayut Chan-o-cha’s visit to India in 2016 when Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced the translation and publication of the Constitution of India into Thai language. Assistant Prof. Surat Horachaikul, Director of the India Studies Centre, Chulalongkorn University, who was in-charge of the translation of the Constitution of India into Thai language, stated that it was a privilege for him to embark upon a mammoth task of translating the supreme law of India that binds all Indians from diverse backgrounds.

In his remarks, the Chief Guest Mr. Chuan Leekpai said that India is a great nation, whose history goes back to the Indus Valley Civilisation of more than 5,000 years and that Southeast Asia owes much to the Indian civilisation. He also said that for over 70 years, democracy stood the test of time in a country with tremendous diversity and that the success of the Constitution of India thus becomes a model that attracts attention and inspires people around the world.

The event was attended by around 200 dignitaries and guests. The launch of the Thai translation of the Indian Constitution ceremony was followed with a short cultural programme, screening of a documentary film on the making of the Constitution of India and a short video clip on the Vaccine Maitri initiative of the Government of India. A photo exhibition on the making of the Indian Constitution was also organised.

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