PM Modi pitches for walking together with BIMSTEC member nations
NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday made an impassioned plea for greater connectivity among BIMSTEC member states and said New Delhi was committed to increasing its National Knowledge Network in Nepal, Bhutan, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka.
The Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation, or BIMSTEC, is a sectoral organisation comprising seven South and Southeast Asian states—Bangladesh, India, Myanmar, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Bhutan, and Nepal. Formed over two decades ago, and at times touted as an alternative to the now moribund South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation, the grouping has been hamstrung by divergent and at times conflicting priorities of member states.
“I believe that there is a big opportunity for connectivity—trade connectivity, economic connectivity, transport connectivity, digital connectivity, and people-to-people connectivity,” Modi said while addressing the plenary session of the fourth BIMSTEC summit in Kathmandu.
The BIMSTEC nations not only share strong diplomatic relations with Idia and each other but are also strongly connected by civilization, history, art, language, cuisine and a shared culture, Modi said, adding that the grouping was important to India because it was deeply aligned with New Delhi’s Act East and neighbourhood first policies. He also urged the formulation of a strong shared legal framework to tackle the challenges of terrorism and drug trafficking.
Modi, who was received by Nepal defence minister Ishwar Pokhrel on his arrival in Kathmandu, had earlier jointly called on President of Nepal Bidhya Devi Bhandari along with the heads of other member states. He also held bilateral meetings with Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina Wajed, and Sri Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena. Modi is likely to meet leaders of the other member states on Friday before returning to New Delhi. Addressing the media later in the evening, Foreign Secretary Vijay Gokhale said a draft charter likely to be announced on Friday would set BIMSTEC on a firm, focused institutional foundation.