BIMSTEC
- INTERNATIONAL
News:
BIMSTEC GROUPING
What's
in the news?
● External
Affairs Minister S Jaishankar participated in the Foreign Ministers' meeting of
the Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic
Cooperation (BIMSTEC), in Bangkok, Thailand.
Key
takeaways:
● BIMSTEC
is a regional organisation established in 1997 with the signing of the Bangkok
Declaration.
● India
focuses on security, along with counter-terrorism and transnational crime,
disaster management and energy.
Bay
of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation
(BIMSTEC):
About:
● The
BIMSTEC is a regional organization exclusively focussing on the Bay of Bengal
littoral areas.
Year:
● It
was established in 1997 through the Bangkok Declaration.
Members:
● It
consisted of seven members.
● Five
from South Asia, including Bangladesh,
Bhutan, India, Nepal, Sri Lanka and two from Southeast Asia, including Myanmar
and Thailand.
Headquarters:
● Dhaka,
Bangladesh
Objectives:
● Creating
an enabling environment for the rapid
economic development of the sub-region.
● Encouraging
the spirit of equality and
partnership.
● Promoting
active collaboration and mutual
assistance in the areas of common interests of the member countries
● Accelerating
support for each other in the fields of education, science, and technology,
etc.
Principles:
● Sovereign
Equality
● Territorial
Integrity
● Political
Independence
● No-interference
in Internal Affairs
● Peaceful
Co-existence
● Mutual
Benefit
● Constitute
an addition to and not be a substitute for bilateral, regional or multilateral
cooperation involving the Member States.