17th BIMSTEC Summit- Key Talking Points

India’s External Affairs Minister recently attended the 17th ministerial meet of the BIMSTEC (Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation) countries.

About the Ministerial Meet:

Sri Lanka Chaired the 17th Ministerial Meeting.
Dr. S. Jaishankar reiterated India’s commitment to take BIMSTEC forward.

About BIMSTEC:

BIMSTEC is a regional organization consisting of members from South Asia and South-East Asia. It was founded in 1997 through the Bangkok Declaration.
The organization aims to harness mutual cooperation in multiple areas by using regional resources and geographical advantage.
It comprises seven Member States:
- Five from South Asia including Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Nepal, Sri Lanka
- Two from Southeast Asia including Myanmar and Thailand.
BIMSTEC Chairmanship rotates among member countries alphabetically.
Nearly 1.5 billion people or 22% of the global population comes under the BIMSTEC. Together, BIMSTEC has a combined gross domestic product (GDP) of $2.7 trillion.
Currently, the BIMSTEC is involved in 15 sectors. This includes sectors such as trade, technology, agriculture, tourism, fisheries, energy, and climate change among others for sectoral cooperation.
The First Summit Meeting of the Heads of the BIMSTEC Countries was held in Bangkok, Thailand in 2004.
Headquarters: Dhaka, Bangladesh.

Source: TH

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