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BIMSTEC adopts charter; Lanka focuses on security; India calls for greater trade ties
View(s):The seven nation regional grouping of the Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC) adopted a charter on Wednesday (30) to expand overall cooperation.
The historic charter was signed at the conclusion of the fifth BIMSTEC summit in Colombo. Leaders also adopted BIMSTEC’s Master Plan for Transport Connectivity.
President Gotabaya Rajapaksa addressing the summit virtually. Pic by Akila Jayawardana
This year’s summit was held from March 28 to 30 under a “hybrid” format. President Gotabaya Rajapaksa hosted the summit with the virtual participation of leaders of Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Nepal, and Thailand. Myanmar was represented virtually by its Foreign Minister Wunna Maung Lwin; a move that sidestepped the thorny issue of giving recognition to the country’s military chief, Senior General Min Aung Hlaing.
This year’s summit was held under the theme “BIMSTEC: Towards a Resilient Region, Prosperous Economies, Healthy Peoples.”
Addressing the summit, President Rajapaksa said the Bay of Bengal region has become increasingly important for global connectivity and trade. Pointing out that the international shipping lines traversing these waters help keep the engines of the global economy running, he said it is essential that littoral nations work together to ensure that threats to these waters and regional states, are curtailed.
These threats include transnational crime, including narcotics smuggling, human trafficking, and terrorism, as well as the spread of religious extremism in this region. Managing such threats requires increased intelligence sharing, and inter-governmental and inter-agency cooperation amongst BIMSTEC member countries, he added.
India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi told the summit that India would provide US$ 1 million financial assistance to increase the operational budget of the BIMSTEC Secretariat.
Stressing the need to make speedy progress on the proposal of BIMSTEC Free Trade Agreement (FTA), he called for enhanced exchanges between entrepreneurs and startups of BIMSTEC countries.
Also addressing the summit were Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, Bhutan’s Prime Minister Dr. Lotay Tshering, Nepal’s Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba, Thai Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha and Myanmar Foreign Minister Wunna Maung Lwin.
The BIMSTEC Senior Officials’ Meeting and Ministerial Meeting were held on March 28 and 29 with the participation of Foreign Ministers of Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Nepal, and Thailand. Myanmar’s Foreign Minister joined virtually.
Several agreements were also signed during the course of the summit. These were the BIMSTEC Convention on mutual legal assistance in criminal matters; a Memorandum of Association (MoA) on the Establishment of BIMSTEC Technology Transfer Facility (TTF) in Colombo; and a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on Mutual Cooperation between Diplomatic Academies/Training Institutions of BIMSTEC Member States.
Concluding the summit, President Rajapaksa handed over the chairmanship to the Prime Minister of Thailand, the next Chair of BIMSTEC.
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