Why in news
The 6th summit of the BIMSTEC is being held in Bangkok, Thailand.
Theme: “A Prosperous, Resilient, and Open BIMSTEC.”
Agenda: Adoption of the 5th BIMSTEC Declaration and signing of an agreement on maritime transport cooperation.
All eyes are on whether PM Narendra Modi of India and Bangladesh’s Chief Adviser Prof. Mohammed Yunus will meet on the summit's sidelines.
Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC)
It is a regional multilateral organisation
Its members lie in the littoral and adjacent areas of the Bay of Bengal constituting a contiguous regional unity.
It came into being in 1997 through the Bangkok Declaration.
Initially, it was formed with four Member States with the acronym ‘BIST-EC’ (Bangladesh, India, Sri-Lanka and Thailand Economic Cooperation).
It became renamed ‘BIMST-EC’ in 1997, following the inclusion of Myanmar.
With the admission of Nepal and Bhutan in 2004, the name of the grouping was changed to ‘Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation’ (BIMSTEC)
At present 7 members :
Five are from South Asia - Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Nepal, Sri Lanka
Two are from Southeast Asia – Myanmar, Thailand
COMMENTS