PM Modi attends BIMSTEC Summit, seeks regional cooperation due to `recent developments` in Europe

During the virtual summit, the Prime Minister said that the recent developments in Europe have raised questions about the `stability of the international order`.

New Delhi: Amid the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday (March 30, 2022) attended the 5th BIMSTEC Summit and said that the recent developments in Europe have "raised questions about the stability of international order". 

Seeking regional cooperation during the virtual summit, which is being hosted by Sri Lanka, the current BIMSTEC chair, Prime Minister Modi said that the time has come to make the Bay of Bengal the bridge of connectivity, prosperity and security. 

"The recent developments in Europe have raised questions about the stability of the international order. In this context, it has become a greater priority to have regional cooperation. Today we are adopting the BIMSTEC charter to develop institution architecture for our group," he said.

"I call on all BIMSTEC nations to dedicate themselves to working with new enthusiasm to achieve the goals we achieved together in 1997," PM Modi added.

"With our region facing challenges of health and economic security, the need of the hour is unity and cooperation," PM Modi asserted.

He also stated that India will provide the BIMSTEC secretariat with 1 million US dollars to increase its operational budget.

"It is important to strengthen the capacity of (BIMSTEC) secretariat... I suggest the Secretary-General create a roadmap for the same," the Indian PM opined.

The Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC) is a regional multilateral organisation comprising seven Member States lying in the littoral and adjacent areas of the Bay of Bengal constituting a contiguous regional unity. The members include Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Myanmar and Thailand. 

Through the Bangkok Declaration, this sub-regional organization came into being on June 6, 1997. Initially, the economic bloc was formed with four member states with the acronym ‘BIST-EC’ (Bangladesh, India, Sri Lanka and Thailand Economic Cooperation). Following the inclusion of Myanmar on December 22, 1997, during a special Ministerial Meeting in Bangkok, the Group was renamed ‘BIMST-EC’ (Bangladesh, India, Myanmar, Sri Lanka and Thailand Economic Cooperation). 

With the admission of Nepal and Bhutan at the 6th ministerial meeting in February 2004, Thailand, the name of the group was changed to ‘Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC).