Vice President Hamid Ansari today asked Thailand's vibrant Indian community tolook at the "new India" and invest in its growing economy.
"This (Indian) community can contribute to the great efforts being made in India. It will make you proud of India and India will be proud of you," Ansari said, addressing a gathering of over 600 Indian nationals and Thai Indians at a reception hosted by Indian ambassador Bhagwant Bishnoi.
He said Indian community should look at the "new India and invest in its growing economy".
The Vice President said that every 7th person in the world is an Indian or of Indian-origin. "Soon there could be an Indian on the Mars with the success of Mangalyaan," he quipped.
"The purpose of my visit is to strengthen the already strong ties between India and Thailand," he told the cheering audience.
Ansari, who flew into this southeast Asian country on the first visit by an Indian Vice President in half a century at the invitation of Thai premier Gen Prayut Chan-o-cha, said there had always been a link between India and this region.
"In diverse ways each one represents a new India which has predominantly young population," he said.
Referring to diversity in India, he said, "Diversity to some is a challenge but for us it is something to be cherished and build on."
"We have given substance to the plurality and democratic system has stood us in good stead," he added.
"Our objective is to make India and Indians relevant to the world," he said.
Ansari's visit is the first by an Indian Vice President to Thailand after a gap of 50 years. The last Vice President to come to Thailand was Zakir Hussain in 1966.
