India has recently taken part in the 24th BIMSTEC Senior Officials Meeting (SOM) virtually hosted by Thailand.
It involved the participation of Jaideep Mazumdar, Secretary (East) of the Ministry of External Affairs, on behalf of India, and discussed developments made towards the last meeting held in March 2023.
The following topics were covered for discussion, among others: sustainable development, connectivity, security, and people-to-people exchanges as areas of regional cooperation.
According to the statement by the MEA, several documents relating to action plans in specific areas, new mechanisms for cooperation, and external partnerships were finalized in the meeting. It also sought discussion on preparation towards the 6th BIMSTEC Summit. The Indian delegation highlighted India's firm commitment towards BIMSTEC as well as its vision to widely develop and prosper a regional community.
The meeting was chaired by Paiyan Rupanichkij, Deputy Permanent Secretary for Foreign Affairs of the Kingdom of Thailand. Nepal's representation included Acting Foreign Secretary Amrit Rai at its head. The virtual session chaired by Rupanichkij included Rai's participation, which was reported by Nepal's Ministry of Foreign Affairs via a post on the social networking platform X.
This has been reiterated time and again by India on its commitment to BIMSTEC. In September, External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar told a meeting of BIMSTEC foreign ministers in New York that BIMSTEC is essential to India's Neighbourhood First Policy, Vision SAGAR, and Act East Policy. Jaiankar also chaired the informal ministerial meeting and urged the need for better maritime and digital connectivity across the region.
It was a meeting for the New Yorkers on health, food security, trade and investment, energy, and capacity building. Jaishankar retorted, building capacities of people to people links with skill development and the establishment of BIMSTEC Centres of Excellence. He repeated India's promise to give BIMSTEC a wider level of engagement, broadening it along with its strategic policies.
It also serves as a key and critical regional partnership platform which BIMSTEC stands for the abbreviation of the Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation. It counters India's effective participation in this event to demonstrate its commitment to regional community building and connectedness, while at the same time developing and addressing commonly shared challenges.
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