Bimstec Nations

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

Since its inception in 1997, the grouping has been slow to move on economic cooperation and regional connectivity

Nepal has proposed 4 additional transit points for land trade with India

Study also found, there was no need to liberalise trade and investment measures in services considering the lack of physical infrastructure in the region