RIYADH: A delegation from the Muslim World League, led by its secretary general Dr. Mohammad Al-Issa, arrived in Bangkok earlier this week.
The delegation was welcomed by Deputy Prime Minister Don Pramudwinai, who is also the foreign affairs minister.
Al-Issa will meet ministers and members of parliament during his visit. He will give two lectures, the first on religious tolerance and bridge-building and the second at Chulalongkorn University on the importance of an alliance of civilizations.
Thai Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha expressed his country’s eagerness for Al-Issa’s keynote lecture at the university, which is Thailand’s oldest and most famous.
Chan-o-Cha praised the outstanding role that MWL was playing worldwide, hoping that this visit would further strengthen the cooperation between Thailand and the MWL.
He also congratulated Al-Issa for receiving an honorary doctorate from Fatoni University.
Al-Issa met the former prime minister and the current speaker of the House of Representatives, Chuan Leekpai, in the presence of parliamentary committee chairmen and MPs. Both sides held an extensive meeting tackling topics of mutual interest and prospects for strengthening bilateral cooperation.
Al-Issa also had a meeting with Pramudwinai. They discussed several topics of mutual interest and identified frameworks for activating bilateral cooperation through initiatives and programs.
The MWL delegation, accompanied by several local Thai leaders, visited the Jim Thompson House Museum in Bangkok, where they were received by Culture Minister Itthiphol Kunplome, a number of the museum’s curators, and senior researchers and experts.
Al-Issa praised the level of national harmony in Thailand with its religious and ethnic diversity, highlighting the long history of Thai multiculturalism.
He said that Thailand was a role model for countries in terms of coexistence under the banner of one national state and a single constitution.
