Describe India's historical and cultural connections with Southeast Asian countries like Thailand, Malaysia, and Singapore.

India has deep historical and cultural connections with Southeast Asian countries dating back over 2,000 years. Indian traders and scholars sailed to these regions from as early as the 3rd century BCE, exchanging spices, textiles, and religious ideas. In Thailand, the Dvāravatī culture and Ayutthayā Kingdom were named after Indian cities, and Thai monarchs are named after Rāma. Malaysia adopted a script based on India's Brāhmī script around the 4th century CE, and a large Indian community migrated there to work on plantations. Singapore's name derives from 'Singapuram' meaning 'lion city', and Tamil is one of its official languages. About 9% of Singapore's population is of Indian origin, and there is an area called 'Little India' in the city.