5th BIMSTEC Summit
Recently the fifth BIMSTEC summit has been organized in Sri Lanka.
- The BIMSTEC (The Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation) summit was organized through virtual medium.
- In this summit, the Prime Minister of India called for enhancing mutual cooperation among the member countries. At the same time, he said in his address that the time has come to make the Bay of Bengal (Way of Bengal) the ‘bridge of connectivity, prosperity and security’ among the member countries.
- In addition, India also announced a grant of $1 million to increase the operational budget of the BIMSTEC Secretariat.
Highlights of 5th BIMSTEC summit:
- In this summit the “BIMSTEC Charter” was adopted and signed. This Charter gives a formal form to the group of member states situated on the shores of the Bay of Bengal and dependent on it.
- In other words, due to this charter, BIMSTEC will now be formally transformed into an organization rather than a grouping. This charter will give a new international identity to BIMSTEC.
- It also formally sets out the objectives and principles of BIMSTEC.
- It is to be noted that in the absence of a dedicated charter, till now BIMSTEC was organized or governed on the basis of Bangkok Declaration of 1997.
- The leaders of BIMSTEC have agreed to divide the working of this group into seven segments. India will provide leadership in the “Security Segment”.
Seven segments:
- Trade, Investment and Development
- Environment and Climate change
- Security (led by India)
- Agriculture and food security
- People-to-people contacts of member countries
- Science, Technology and Innovation; And
The “Master Plan for Transport Connectivity” was announced in this summit. It aims to provide a framework for regional and domestic connectivity.
Source- The Hindu
