Representatives of Thailand, Sri Lanka, Myanmar, Nepal, and Bhutan arrived in New Delhi to attend the two-day second BIMSTEC Foreign Ministers' Retreat starting on Thursday. External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar is set to host his counterparts for the significant Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC) meet, which brings together seven countries of South and South East Asia for multifaceted cooperation.
Foreign Minister of Thailand Maris Sangiampongsa and State Minister of Foreign Affairs of Sri Lanka Tharaka Balasuriya arrived in Delhi on Thursday.
Meanwhile, Bhutan Foreign Minister DN Dhungyel, Myanmar's Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister U Than Swe, Nepal Foreign Secretary Sewa Lamsal, and Secretary General of BIMSTEC Indra Mani Pandey reached India on Wednesday.
"The Retreat will present an opportunity for the Foreign Ministers of the BIMSTEC countries to discuss, in an informal setting, avenues to broaden and deepen cooperation across various sectors including in the fields of security, connectivity, trade and investment, people-to-people contacts etc, in the Bay of Bengal region and littoral," the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said in a statement.
About BIMSTEC
BIMSTEC is a regional organisation comprising countries on the shore, or adjacent to the Bay of Bengal, and are dependent on it. It was formed on June 6, 1997, through the Bangkok Declaration and is headquartered Dhaka in Bangladesh.
The organisation has seven member states, including five from South Asia -- Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Nepal, Sri Lanka-- and two from Southeast Asia--Myanmar and Thailand.
The first edition of the BIMSTEC Foreign Ministers' Retreat was held in Bangkok in July 2023.
Last month, as he congratulated Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the BJP-led NDA's third consecutive term, Thailand Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin said that he is already looking forward to the Indian leader's visit to the country in September this year for the BIMSTEC Summit.