BIMSTEC cooperation not satisfactory, need charter: Nepal

New Delhi, Jan 18 (PTI) Nepal, the current BIMSTEC chair,said today that the pace of cooperation among member countrieswas not satisfactory and dem...

New Delhi, Jan 18 (PTI) Nepal, the current BIMSTEC chair,said today that the pace of cooperation among member countrieswas not satisfactory and demanded "clarity" on its vision, asIndia assured it was committed to make its neighbours part ofits growth story.

Addressing a session - Towards a Bay of Bengal Community:Development, Growth and Security - at the Raisina Dialogue inNew Delhi, Nepal's Foreign Secretary Shanker Das Bairagi saida charter was needed to enhance the profile of the initiative.

The Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technicaland Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC) is a regional grouping ofseven nations of South Asia and South East Asia, that wasestablished 20 years ago. It has its secretariat in Dhaka.

"There have been barriers in BIMSTEC, the pace ofcooperation has not been satisfactory, the scope and scale ofoperation have not matched the potential. We need to haveclarity on what is the vision we seek for the grouping,"Bairagi said.

"The most important thing is to have a kind of a charterto enhance the profile of BIMSTEC, a legal instrument tooutline the role of the secretariat. We have the foundingdocument, but we need a charter," he said.

Bairagi said Nepal was planning to host a summit"sometime this year" as the chair of the BIMSTEC grouping.

Secretary (East) in India's Ministry of External Affairs,Preeti Saran, said, she was "all positive" about the journeyof the BIMSTEC grouping over the past 20 years.

"The chief guests from 10 countries of the region willattend the Republic Day celebrations. That itself shows theimportance we attach to BIMSTEC policies," she said.

Leaders of 10 ASEAN nations are expected to attend theRepublic Day celebrations on January 26 in New Delhi.

Saran said the grouping was poised to move ahead as therewas a political will and close coordination among its members.

In cross-border matters, it takes two to tango, and thepolitical will is there and the members meet frequently tosolve issues. "We are one track", she said.

"Also, as part of our 'Act East' policy, we are committedto make our neighbours in this region, part of the growthstory... India has an important role to play, not only in thisgrouping...but for the growth of the entire region," she said.

India has been giving more importance to BIMSTEC as theSAARC talks have stalled for the past a few years.

Besides India and Nepal, other BIMSTEC members areBangladesh, Sri Lanka, Myanmar, Thailand and Bhutan. Theregion represents nearly one-fifth of the global populationand a combined GDP of close to USD 3 trillion.

Sri Lanka's State Minister of Foreign Affairs VasanthaSenanayake said the BIMSTEC initiative has the strength ofpooling complementary strengths of nations from the SAARC andthe ASEAN groupings.

"We can achieve through BIMSTEC what we could not throughSAARC. I am not saying Sri Lanka would not try harder to moveSAARC," he said.

"The region is also rich in biodiversity, and we have tomaintain a delicate balance, so that we exploit it withouthurting the marine biodiversity," Senanayake said.

Bangladesh's Foreign Minister Abul Hassan Mahmood Ali wasscheduled to attend the session, but could not make it. PTIKNDABH.

This is unedited, unformatted feed from the Press Trust of India wire.

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