BIMSTEC Secretary General Tenzin Lekphell is to pay four-day visit (from August 22 to 25) to India next week will hold will hold discussions with senior Indian officials on how to make the BIMSTEC organization and cooperation forward in keeping with the mandate of the BIMSTEC Leaders, the Ministry of External Affairs said in a press note issued on Saturday.
The General Secretary of the seven-member group is visiting India at the invitation of MEA Secretary East Saurabh Kumar.
According to the Ministry, India leads the Security cooperation pillar on the BIMSTEC platform that includes Disaster Management, Marine Cooperation and Energy Security, all of which are vital for the attainment of SDG targets in the region.
At the 5th BIMSTEC Summit held in Sri Lanka this year on March 30, Leaders of the seven BIMSTEC member states (Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Myanmar, Nepal, Sri Lanka and Thailand) adopted the BIMSTEC Charter thereby confirming the transition of this grouping of states, littoral to or dependent upon the Bay of Bengal, into a full-fledged regional organization with a distinct international personality.
India had stressed the importance of rapidly consolidating this newly created regional organization, and to moving BIMSTEC cooperation to the next level.