BIMSTEC

The BIMSTEC ministerial conference, which will deal with issues such as climate change and food security, is underway in Kolkata on Saturday. Experts from various fields will discuss the issues concerning the seven members of the 'Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation' (BIMSTEC). The two-day event will be attended, among others, by West Bengal Governor C V Ananda Bose and Minister of State for External Affairs Rajkumar Ranjan Singh. "This conference has been designed to address all persisting issues and challenges in BIMSTEC with a country-wise representation and perspective, Arindam Mukherjee, the director of the Institute of Social and Cultural Studies, one of the organisers of the event, has said. The seven members of the BIMSTEC are Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Myanmar, Nepal, Sri Lanka and Thailand.

Dealing with pandemic-related woes and other public health issues has become a critical agenda for the member states of BIMSTEC over the last two years since the COVID-19 outbreak, a top official of the regional organisation said on Saturday. Sri Lanka has been identified as the lead country for coordinating and planning on public health matters, he said. "COVID-19 made us realise that pandemics and health per say is an important agenda, and as a region, we have to come together. "Before COVID-19, we were focusing more on trade, connectivity, energy, electricity and such sectors, but not much on health. However, now we have realised that health is also a very important component," Tenzin Lekphell, BIMSTEC secretary general, told PTI. He was speaking here on the sidelines of a two-day meet of the Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC), which has Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Myanmar, and Thailand as member ...

The inaugural session of the meeting was addressed by Sanjay Verma, Secretary (West) in the MEA

Union Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar on Thursday urged the member countries of BIMSTEC to work together for development of a comprehensive regional strategy to strengthen cooperation for transformation of farm sector. India hosted the second Agriculture Ministerial-level meeting of the Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC) here under the chairmanship of Tomar, an official statement said. Agriculture ministers of Bhutan, Bangladesh, Nepal, Myanmar, Sri Lanka and Thailand participated in the meeting. BIMSTEC was established in 1997. It includes five countries of South Asia -- Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Nepal, Sri Lanka and two countries of South-East Asia -- Myanmar and Thailand. Addressing the meeting virtually, Tomar urged the "member countries to cooperate in developing a comprehensive regional strategy to strengthen cooperation for the transformation of agriculture." He emphasised on the importance of millet as a ...

Tenzin Lekphell, the secretary general of the seven-nation grouping BIMSTEC, will pay a four-day visit to India beginning Monday to explore ways to take forward the bloc's cooperative agenda. 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. Announcing Lekphell's visit from August 22 to 25, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said he will hold discussions with senior Indian officials on how to take forward cooperation in sync with the mandate of its leaders. Besides India, the BIMSTEC (Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation) comprises Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Myanmar, Thailand, Nepal and Bhutan. At the 5th BIMSTEC Summit held in Sri Lanka on March 30, the leaders of the member nations adopted a charter and a connectivity roadmap to make the grouping a vibrant platform f

Besides India, the BIMSTEC (Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation) comprises Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Myanmar, Thailand, Nepal and Bhutan

Prime Minister speaks about 'recent developments in Europe', doesn't name Russia for Ukraine crisis.

S Jaishankar said that the BIMSTEC member states must collectively combat terrorism and violent extremism as he emphasised India's commitment to intensify, expand areas of cooperation

The summit is being hosted by Sri Lanka in its capacity as the chair of the seven-nation grouping BIMSTEC (Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation)

Jaishankar said India's relationship with the ASEAN is a key pillar of its foreign policy and the foundation of its Act East Policy

For the next five years India, which is in a technology race with China, has a mission for its startups and unicorns to emerge as global giants and lead in futuristic technologies

The Indian delegation at the virtual meeting of the grouping was headed by Secretary (East) in Ministry of External Affairs Vijay Thakur Singh

His remarks come following India and Pakistan blaming each other over the lack of cooperation and coordination among the SAARC member states earlier this monTH

The BIMSTEC region brings together 1.67 billion people or 22% of the world's population

More intensive economic integration with countries in the seven-member bloc will enable India to cash in on the abundantly available opportunities

But Bimstec and Saarc need not be exclusive of each other

The military drill was dragged into controversy as no diplomatic or political level agreement was made before deciding to take part in the exercise

India has failed to show leadership in its neighbourhood

Modi said India is ready to host a conference under BIMSTEC frame-work on narcotics related topicS

She said BIMSTEC is a natural choice for India to fulfil its key foreign policy priorities