Nepali PM to attend BIMSTEC Summit in Colombo

Nepali Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba will attend the fifth BIMSTEC Summit (Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation). He is due to attend the summit on March 30 in Colombo, Sri Lanka.

 

The seven-nation BIMSTEC, comprising Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Myanmar, Nepal, Sri Lanka, and Thailand was founded in 1997.

 

“The Prime Minister will attend the summit. This is a regional grouping and we would like to see more concrete work,” Prakash Sharan Mahat, ruling Nepali Congress Spokesperson told WION.

 

“Through BIMSTEC not much is happening. Earlier on the basis of the principles, many agreements were reached between the countries. But in reality, in terms of a regional corporation not much has happened. So, we would like to see it’s working in concrete terms,” he added.

 

Earlier in January, Secretary-General of BIMSTEC Tenzin Lekphell, on his visit to Nepal, appreciated Nepal’s contribution in advancing the process of the organisation.

 

Lekphell had called on Foreign Minister Dr Narayan Khadka and stated that the fourth BIMSTEC Summit held in Kathmandu was an important milestone in streamlining the areas of cooperation and institutional strengthening of the organisation.

 

Expressing Nepal’s commitment to contribute constructively to help BIMSTEC make further advances, Khadka underlined the need to fifth summit to build on the progress made thus far and to provide significant breakthroughs towards realising the regional aspirations.

 

Among the seven members of the BIMSTEC, five are also members of the currently dysfunctional South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC). (WION)