BIMSTEC Secretary General Calls on India’s External Affairs Minister

23 July 2019

Mr. M. Shahidul Islam, Secretary General of the Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC) Secretariat, called on Mr. S. Jaishankar, Minister of External Affairs of the Government of India, on 23 July 2019 in New Delhi, India.

Mr. Islam briefed the External Affairs Minister on initiatives taken by the BIMSTEC Secretariat toward fulfillment of BIMSTEC leaders' directives agreed during the Fourth BIMSTEC Summit. He also emphasized the need to hold regular sectoral meetings, and complete the ongoing review and rationalization of BIMSTEC's sectors of cooperation. The latter initiative aims to further focus the work of BIMSTEC.

Mr. Jaishankar reaffirmed India's strong commitment to BIMSTEC to the BIMSTEC Secretary General. He also expressed hope that the ongoing institutional reform within BIMSTEC will yield more results in the near future.

The Secretary General invited the Indian External Affairs Minister to visit BIMSTEC Secretariat during his future visit to Bangladesh.

BIMSTEC is an intergovernmental platform that brings together countries within the Bay of Bengal region—Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Myanmar, Nepal, Sri Lanka, and Thailand, to strengthen their economic and physical linkages. BIMSTEC is a key priority for India as it focuses on forging stronger relations in the neighborhood, according to Mr. S. Jaishankar.

 

Related links:

The sixth and final unit of the Punatsangchhu-II Hydropower Project was successfully synchronized with Bhutan’s national grid on...

Read More


Mr. Vikram Misri, Foreign Secretary of the Government of India, visited Nepal on 17-18 August 2025 to strengthen...

Read More


The Government of India approved the purchase of an additional 200 MW of electricity from Nepal, effective 11...

Read More


The India-Bhutan energy partnership reached a major milestone with the operationalization of the fifth unit of the 1,020...

Read More


The Government of Bangladesh has launched a fully automated trade clearance system, making the submission and issuance of...

Read More


Assam and Bhutan have pledged to strengthen their bilateral tourism ties by collaborating on smoother and more accessible...

Read More


The new Gelephu Integrated Check Post (ICP) in Bhutan, which will play a key role in the Gelephu...

Read More