NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Narendra Modi will attend the fourth summit of the Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC) in Nepal on August 30 and 31. The regional grouping comprising Bangladesh, India, Myanmar, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Bhutan, and Nepal is a key element of India’s Act East policy. Addressing a Press briefing in New Delhi on Thursday, the MEA’s Secretary East, Preeti Saran, said the summit would be preceded by the 19th Senior Officials meeting on August 28 and the 16th Foreign Ministers meeting on August 29.
According to Saran, the meeting will begin with a joint call by leaders of all BIMSTEC members on the host, Nepal’s President Bidhya Devi Bhandari. Then, “In the afternoon of August 30, the BIMSTEC inaugural plenary session will be held, followed by gala dinner and a cultural programme hosted by the government of Nepal. In the forenoon, there will be a retreat, and in the afternoon there will be the closing session of the summit.” Prime Minister Modi is also expected to hold bilateral meetings with leaders of the member states on the sidelines of the summit.
Connectivity, improving relations within BIMSTEC, and ways to counter terrorism and radicalisation will be high on the agenda. Several MoUs in different areas are expected to be inked during the summit, and a declaration laying down the road map for the future is likely to be issued at the end of the summit, she said. Launched in June 1997 with four member states, Bangladesh, India, Sri Lanka and Thailand in Bangkok, it was renamed as ‘BIMST-EC’ (Bangladesh, India, Myanmar, Sri Lanka and Thailand Economic Cooperation) following the inclusion of Myanmar later that year. With the admission of Nepal and Bhutan at the 6th Ministerial Meeting in Thailand in February 2004, the name of the grouping was changed.