दिल्ली में आज BIMSTEC विदेश मंत्रियों की बैठक: ट्रेड बढ़ाने पर जोर; भारत की कोशिश पाकिस्तान दुनिया में अलग-थलग हो

The picture is from August 31, 2018 when PM Modi addressed the opening session of the BIMSTEC summit in Kathmandu.

BIMSTEC Foreign Ministers’ meeting is going to be held in New Delhi today. Thailand’s Foreign Minister Maris Sangiaampongsa and Bhutan’s Foreign Minister D.N. Dhungyel have reached Delhi to attend this meeting. This meeting will last for two days. Foreign Ministers of Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Myanmar, Thailand, Nepal and Bhutan will participate in it.

According to the Ministry of External Affairs, discussions will be held on security, telecommunications, trade and mutual cooperation in this meeting. It will be hosted by External Affairs Minister Dr. S. Jaishankar. According to experts, this will strengthen India’s relations with its neighboring countries.

The picture is of 17 July 2023. When the first meeting of BIMSTEC Foreign Ministers was held in Thailand.

What is BIMSTEC?
The Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC) is a regional organization of countries bordering the Bay of Bengal. It includes seven countries. Pakistan has been kept out of it.

The aim of this organization is to create a positive environment among member countries to promote rapid economic development, social progress and to coordinate on issues of common interest. It was created in 1997 under the Bangkok Declaration.

Initially it had four countries and was called BIST-EC i.e. Bangladesh, India, Sri Lanka and Thailand Economic Cooperation Organization. After the inclusion of Myanmar on 22 December 1997, its name became BIMST-EC.

In 2004, Bhutan and Nepal were included in it and its name became BIMSTEC.

What is the benefit to India from BIMSTEC?
India wants to establish its dominance among the countries included in SAARC through BIMSTEC. Pakistan is included in SAARC, so the government wants BIMSTEC to be strengthened. SAARC wants to achieve peace and progress in South Asia through mutual cooperation.

Even when India hosted the BRICS summit in 2016, India invited BIMSTEC countries instead of SAARC, thereby isolating Pakistan in the world.

Last year, on July 17, 2023, the first BIMSTEC foreign ministers’ meeting was held in Bangkok. The sixth BIMSTEC summit is going to be held in Thailand in September this year, in which an agreement on transport cooperation regarding maritime trade will be sealed. Today, it is expected that this will be discussed so that trade can be increased.