BIMSTEC Summit: PM Modi to visit Nepal next week

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will visit Nepal from August 30 to August 31, for the fourth Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC) summit.

Secretary (East) in the External Affairs Ministry Preeti Saran in a press conference here on Friday said that the meeting will be preceded by 16th Foreign Minister meeting on August 29 and the 19th Senior Official meeting on August 28.

The meeting will begin with a joint call from the leaders of all the BIMSTEC countries on the host, which is President of Nepal Bidhya Devi Bhandari.

Further revealing the programme of the meeting, Saran said, "In the afternoon of August 30, the BIMSTEC inaugural plenary session will be held followed by gala dinner and a cultural program hosted by the government of Nepal. In the forenoon, there will a retreat and in the afternoon there will the closing session of the summit."

She further said that this summit brings together like-minded countries to peace and prosperity.

Talking about the agendas of the summit, Saran asserted that last year the Minister of External affairs attended the 15th BIMSTEC foreign ministers meeting to review agenda of action. She said, "We really kept up the momentum and have taken several initiatives."

India took lead in hosting meetings to negotiate key agreements and these initiatives have given a boost to the upcoming summit, she said.

BIMSTEC is a regional grouping of several countries including Bangladesh, India, Myanmar, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Bhutan, and Nepal.