External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Thursday called upon the BIMSTEC countries to come up with own solutions which becomes even more imperative given the current global and regional scenario.
In his opening remarks at the BIMSTEC Foreign Ministers’ Retreat in New Delhi on Thursday, he said, “The BIMSTEC Charter, for a start, has come into effect from 20 May this year. The global and regional developments also make it imperative that we find more solutions amongst ourselves.”
He said there are long-standing goals such as capacity building and economic cooperation that have acquired a new urgency and not least, a grouping that is so complementary and so congenial in its membership should surely harbour higher aspirations.
“Our hope is that these would be expressed as shared and ambitious BIMSTEC Vision,” said Jaishankar.
He said BIMSTEC countries had last met in a similar format in Bangkok in July last year.
“Much has happened since then and this should spur their endeavours to deepen and broaden the activities of BIMSTEC,” he added.
Jaishankar said that for India, BIMSTEC represents the intersection of its ‘Neighbourhood First’ outlook, the ‘Act East Policy’ and the ‘SAGAR’ vision.
“Each of these endeavours is being purposed with a specific focus on the Bay of Bengal. Our collaborative potential have long remained under realised,” he said.
“Our challenge is to change that for the better, and to do so rapidly. The retreat is meant to exchange ideas openly, candidly and fruitfully. We all benefited from the last such exercise in Bangkok. This one now has a particular importance as it serves to prepare strong outcomes for the Summit to be held later in the year,” he added.
He said our message should be clear that we are all determined to infuse new energy, new resources and a new commitment into cooperation among the seven members of the grouping.
“The retreat in New Delhi would revolve around connectivity, institutional building, cooperation in trade and business, collaboration in health and space, digital public infrastructure, capacity building and societal exchanges, as well as weighing on the merits of new mechanisms,” he added.
Earlier, Taking to X, Jaishankar welcomed colleagues in New Delhi for the 2nd BIMSTEC Foreign Ministers’ Retreat.
“Welcomed colleagues in New Delhi for the 2nd BIMSTEC Foreign Ministers’ Retreat. Today’s discussions will be helpful in infusing new energies, resources and commitment towards BIMSTEC cooperation,” he posted on X.
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.
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 first edition of the BIMSTEC foreign ministers’ retreat was held in Bangkok on 17 July, 2023.
With inputs from agencies
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