New Delhi:Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday said the continuing effects of the Covid pandemic and the Ukraine developments have made it more important to give greater emphasis to the BIMSTEC regional security and partnership as he announced USD one million to the bloc’s secretariat to draw up a roadmap to fulfil the aspirations of the Bay of Bengal grouping. Addressing the virtual BIMSTEC summit, PM Modi also announced $three million to revitalise the working of the BIMSTEC Centre for Weather and Climate Change in the sphere of disaster management and disaster risk reduction. He also urged for progress on the BIMSTEC FTA negotiations so that trade within the seven countries can be taken forward. The Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC) is a regional grouping of seven Member States lying in the littoral and adjacent areas of the Bay of Bengal constituting a contiguous regional unity. The members constitute five from South Asia, including Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Nepal, Sri Lanka, and two from Southeast Asia, including Myanmar and Thailand. The theme of the Colombo Summit is “BIMSTEC-Towards a Resilient Region, Prosperous Economies, Healthy Peoples”. PM Modi said that since today’s summit marks the 25th anniversary of the grouping it is of particular significance and added that today’s summit will be heralded as a golden chapter in the annals of BIMSTEC for the progress made on several fronts, including adoption of the BIMSTEC Charter and the agreement on Connectivity. He thanked Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa for providing able leadership to the BIMSTEC as chair of the grouping. “Our economies and people are still suffering from the consequences of the Covid pandemic, and the developments in Europe raise questions about the stability of the global order. It is thus important to give greater attention to regional security through the BIMSTEC charter, which provides an institutional framework” to the grouping, he said. PM Modi said that BIMSTEC has decided to hold summit meetings every two years and meetings between their foreign ministers every year, and added that he welcomes this development. He said the focus of the grouping should be on how to make its architecture stronger and more resilient, and welcomed the proposal for creation of an Eminent Persons Group to take it forward. He announced that India will provide $1 million to the BIMSTEC Secretariat to make its work more effective. He also announced $3 million to revitalise the work of the BIMSTEC Centre for Weather and Climate Change to boost the partnership in disaster management and disaster risk reduction. PM Modi also announced expanding the scope of the BIMSTEC scholarships provided by the Nalanda University. He said it is time to make the Bay of Bengal the bridge of security, prosperity and connectivity in the region, and welcomed Thailand as the next chair of the grouping. UNI RN
