Leaders to adopt declaration, BIMSTEC Bangkok Vision 2030 at summit: Regional grouping's SG

New Delhi, Mar 28 (PTI) Leaders at the upcoming BIMSTEC Summit in Thailand are set to adopt a BIMSTEC Bangkok Vision 2030, and this would be for the "first time" that the regional grouping will adopt its own vision document, its Secretary General Indra Mani Pandey said on Friday.

In his opening remarks at an online conference titled -- 'Bolstering BIMSTEC: Mapping the Next Steps', he also said that with its core strengths, the seven-nation grouping is "poised to emerge as a very vibrant and dynamic regional organisation".

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be on a two-day visit to Thailand to attend the BIMSTEC Summit, scheduled from April 2 to April 4 in Bangkok.

The Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC) is a regional organisation that was established in 1997 with the signing of the Bangkok Declaration.

Initially known as BIST-EC (Bangladesh-India-Sri Lanka-Thailand Economic Cooperation), the organisation is now known as BIMSTEC, comprises seven Member States with the admission of Myanmar later in 1997, and Bhutan and Nepal in 2004.

The theme for the summit is 'Proactive, Resilient and Open BIMSTEC (PRO- BIMSTEC)'.

"Our leaders will adopt a declaration. They will also adopt a BIMSTEC Bangkok Vision 2030. This is for the first time that BIMSTEC will adopt its own vision document. There will be signing of agreement on maritime transport cooperation in presence of our leaders. A number of other MoUs will be signed for partnerships between BIMSTEC Secretariat and its external partners," Pandey said, underling expected key outcomes of the Summit.

The leaders will consider the reports of eminent persons group, the group worked last year and prepared its report, he said.

The secretary general of BIMSTEC said, subsequent to the Summit there will be launch of two ministerial mechanisms, the mechanism of meeting of home ministers to deal with internal security issues and of the meeting of health ministers.

He underlined that in the context of an uncertainty in global politics, the importance of the South-South cooperation cannot be overstated.

"I am quite sure that with reforms that we are going to undertake in BIMSTEC, with the revitalisation process which is underway, with the core strength of BIMSTEC where we focus on technical and economic cooperation on the ground, rather than getting embroiled in divisive political issues. With all these strengths of BIMSTEC, we are poised to emerge as a very vibrant and dynamic regional organisation," Pandey said.

In his address, he also emphasised that BIMSTEC "continues to enjoy full political support of all its members".

Pandey said as a secretary general of the grouping, he has visited capital of the member states and held meeting with various leaders.

"They all are fully committed to BIMSTEC, and would like BIMSTEC to emerge as a regional organisation," he added.

Referring to the total population, size of economy, combining all member states, he said, the strategic relevance of BIMSTEC has been underlined by the host of the event -- Centre for Global India Insights, a think-tank.

Following a decision at the third BIMSTEC Summit in 2014, the BIMSTEC Secretariat was established in Dhaka, Bangladesh.

Pandey said BIMSTEC has its own Charter and sector and sub-sectors of cooperation, and a project management unit has been set up in the Secretariat.

The grouping is "exploring partnerships" with UN organisations, and "we will soon be signing an MoU with Indian Ocean Rim Association. We are in close conversation with ASEAN, it is keen to work together with BIMSTEC," he said.

BIMSTEC is keen to partner with international organisations such as UNCTAD, UNDP, UN Women, WHO, as well organisations in the region such as International Solar Alliance) and CDRI (Coalition for Disaster Resilient Infrastructure), he said.

Pandey said BIMSTEC has its own agenda, history and challenges, and it should not be seen in the context of other regional groupings like SAARC, which has it own history, context and challenges. PTI KND HIG

Source: PTI