India Hosts BIMSTEC Foreign Ministers As 2-Day Retreat Of Bay Of Bengal Nations Begins In Delhi

India began hosting foreign ministers from the BIMSTEC member countries for a two-day retreat in the national capital on Thursday, aimed at bolstering cooperation among Bay of Bengal countries.

The Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC) brings together seven countries of South and Southeast Asia for multi-faceted cooperation. The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) earlier said the retreat presents an opportunity for the group to discuss avenues to deepen cooperation in trade and connectivity.

Addressing the visiting foreign ministers, External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar said, “Our message should be clear that we are all determined to infuse new energies, new resources and a new commitment into cooperation among Bay of Bengal nations.”

“Global and regional developments also make it imperative that we find more solutions amongst ourselves. There are longstanding goals, such as capacity building and economic cooperation that have acquired a new urgency and not least a grouping that is so complimentary and so congenial in its membership should surely harbour higher aspirations,” the minister added.

This retreat comes as India has been making concerted efforts to make BIMSTEC a vibrant forum for regional cooperation as initiatives under SAARC (South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation) were not moving forward for a variety of reasons. Besides India, the BIMSTEC comprises Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Myanmar, Thailand, Nepal and Bhutan.

“The retreat will present an opportunity for the foreign ministers of the BIMSTEC countries to discuss, in an informal setting, avenues to broaden and deepen cooperation across various sectors including in the fields of security, connectivity, trade and investment, people to people contacts etc, in the Bay of Bengal region and littoral,” the MEA said.

The first edition of the BIMSTEC foreign ministers’ retreat was held in Bangkok on 17 July, 2023. The sixth BIMSTEC summit is scheduled to be held in Thailand this year. The summit is set to seal an agreement on maritime transport cooperation which is expected to boost trade among the member states.