Prime Minister Harini Amarasuriya and Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs & Foreign Employment Arun Hemachandra are expected to travel to Thailand later this week to attend the sixth BIMSTEC Summit.
The summit scheduled to be held in the Thai capital Bangkok on April 3-4 under the theme “Prosperous, Resilient and Open” will likely be overshadowed by the devastating earthquake in neighbouring Myanmar.
Myanmar, a member nation of BIMSTEC, suffered massive damage in Friday’s earthquake while Thailand too was affected by the tremors of the earthquake. However, the summit has not been rescheduled despite the disaster.
The Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC) was established in 1997, and its member nations are Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Myanmar, Nepal, Sri Lanka, and Thailand. The grouping focuses on fostering trade, investment, connectivity, security, and cultural exchange.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be among those participating in the summit before heading to Colombo.
This would be the first physical meeting of the BIMSTEC Leaders since the 4th BIMSTEC Summit in Kathmandu, Nepal in 2018. The last BIMSTEC Summit was held in Colombo in March 2022 in virtual format.
(sundaytimes.lk)
(This story, originally published by sundaytimes.lk has not been edited by SLM staff)
