Ministry of External Affairs Government of India

BIMSTEC Secretary General H.E. Mr. Tenzin Lekphell visited India from 22-25 August 2022 at the invitation of Shri Saurabh Kumar, Secretary (East), MEA.

2. During the visit, detailed discussions were held with the visiting BIMSTEC Secretary General on consolidation and further development of the BIMSTEC institutional architecture under the BIMSTEC Charter adopted at the last Summit (30 March 2022). Discussions were also held on rapidly taking forward cooperation in specific areas led by India including counter terrorism, disaster management, maritime cooperation and energy security. Ongoing cooperation activities in the three BIMSTEC priority areas of poverty eradication, connectivity, and trade & investment were also reviewed.

3. Secretary General met Deputy National Security Advisor, Secretary Power, and Member-Secretary, National Disaster Management Authority, and reviewed BIMSTEC cooperation in sectoral areas.

4. He also participated in a public interactive session hosted by Research and Information Systems for Developing Countries (RIS) titled "Rejuvenating Growth through partnerships-Role of BIMSTEC” which was attended, inter alia, by Ambassadors of Thailand, Bhutan and Myanmar and senior diplomats of BIMSTEC diplomatic missions in New Delhi.

5. Secretary General called on Dr. Rajkumar Ranjan Singh, Minister of State (MoS) for External Affairs and Education on 24 August 2022. On the occasion, MoS ceremonially handed over a cheque of US$ 1 million for the BIMSTEC Secretariat’s operational budget as a follow up to the announcement made by Prime Minister at the last BIMSTEC Summit.

6. BIMSTEC comprises of 7 member states (Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Myanmar, Nepal, Sri Lanka and Thailand) which are littoral to, or dependent upon the Bay of Bengal. During the last BIMSTEC Summit hosted by Sri Lanka, Leaders adopted and signed the BIMSTEC Charter completing its evolution into a full-fledged regional organization with a distinct international legal personality. India is fully committed to work with BIMSTEC member states to further the BIMSTEC regional cooperation agenda and to build BIMSTEC into a vibrant regional organization for development and economic cooperation in the Bay of Bengal region.

New Delhi
August 26, 2022