In Brief:
- St. Vivekananda English Academy students Neeraj Sarmah and Ankit Mandal proposed an artisan residency connecting Sualkuchi Muga weavers with Chiang Mai silk artisans alongside the Siam-Brahmaputra Youth League.
- The duo earned their official diplomatic trip to Bangkok after winning the 12th Namaste Thailand Quiz 2026 held in Guwahati in May 2026.
- Torsak Janpian, Minister Counsellor at Thailand's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, welcomed the proposal while highlighting two millennia of maritime and cultural ties between India and Southeast Asia.
Two 15-year-old Guwahati students, Neeraj Sarmah and Ankit Mandal of St. Vivekananda English Academy, formally presented "The Guwahati Declaration" to Thailand’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) in Bangkok ahead of the 80th anniversary of Thailand-India diplomatic relations. Having earned their trip by winning the 12th Namaste Thailand Quiz 2026 at Guwahati's Srimanta Sankardev International Convention Centre in May, the duo drafted their proposal based on bilateral MoUs signed during Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s April 3, 2025 visit to Bangkok. The plan outlines an artisan residency linking Sualkuchi Muga silk weavers with Thai silk craftspeople in Chiang Mai and creates the Siam-Brahmaputra Youth League to connect Northeast India’s seven sister states with Thai provinces. MFA Minister Counsellor Torsak Janpian commended the initiative, noting the shared Tai-Ahom heritage and ancient maritime routes linking India to Suvarnabhumi.
Source: The Assam Tribune
