Question mark over stability of International order; BIMSTEC cooperation need of hour: PM Modi

New Delhi, Mar 30 (PTI). Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi today participated in the 5th BIMSTEC (Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation) Summit hosted in virtual mode by Sri Lanka, the current chair of BIMSTEC. Prior to the 5th BIMSTEC Summit, preparatory meetings at the Senior Official and Foreign Minister levels were held in Colombo on 28-29 March in the hybrid mode.

The Summit’s theme “Towards a Resilient Region, Prosperous Economies, Healthy People” captures the main current priorities of member states, and the efforts by BIMSTEC to develop cooperation activities that support member state’s programmes to deal with the economic and development consequences of the Covid-19 pandemic. The main outcome of the Summit was the adoption and signing of the BIMSTEC Charter, which formalizes the grouping into an organization made up of member states that are littoral to, and dependent upon, the Bay of Bengal.

The Summit also saw considerable progress being achieved in the BIMSTEC connectivity agenda with the adoption of the ‘Master Plan for Transport Connectivity’ by Leaders which lays out a guidance framework for connectivity related activities in the region in the future.

Stressing that the Russia-Ukraine conflict has raised a question mark over stability of international order, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday called for greater cooperation among BIMSTEC nations and said it has become essential to give more priority to “our regional security”. In his opening remarks at the fifth BIMSTEC Summit being held online, Prime Minister Modi said that with the region facing challenges of health and economic security, the need of the hour is unity and cooperation. “Today is the time to make the Bay of Bengal bridge of connectivity, bridge of prosperity, bridge of security,” he said.

Modi said India will provide USD 1 million (one million is equal to ten lakhs) in financial aid to augment the operational budget of the BIMSTEC secretariat. He said the region has not remained untouched by today’s challenging global scenario. “Our economies, our people, are still suffering the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic,” he said.

In an obvious reference to the Russia-Ukraine conflict, Modi said the developments in Europe in the last few weeks have “raised a question mark over the stability of international order”. “In this context, it has become important to make BIMSTEC regional cooperation more active,” he said. It has become essential to give more priority to our regional security, Modi added.

Noting that the BIMSTEC charter is being adopted at the Summit, he said this is an important step in the direction of establishing an institutional architecture. Modi said the results of this landmark summit will write a golden chapter in BIMSTEC’s history. It is also important to enhance the capacity of the BIMSTEC Secretariat to meet our expectations, Modi said and suggested to the BIMSTEC Secretary General to make a roadmap to achieve this goal.

The prime minister asserted that it is necessary to make early progress on the proposal of BIMSTEC FTA to enhance mutual trade among member states. “We should also increase exchanges between entrepreneurs and startups of our countries. Along with this, we should also try to adopt international norms in the field of trade facilitation,” he told the BIMSTEC leaders.

Underlining that BIMSTEC Centre for Weather and Climate is an important organisation for cooperation in disaster management, especially disaster risk reduction, Modi sought the collaboration of BIMSTEC nations to make this more active. India is ready to contribute USD 3 million to restart the work of this Centre, he said.

Besides India, the BIMSTEC comprises Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Myanmar, Thailand, Nepal and Bhutan. The Summit will adopt the ‘BIMSTEC Charter’ which will give the grouping an international identity and lay out the basic institutional architecture through which it will carry out its work. With 21.7 per cent of the world’s population and combined GDP of USD 3.8 trillion, the BIMSTEC has emerged as an influential engine of economic growth.

In his intervention, the Prime Minister underscored the importance of enhanced BIMSTEC regional connectivity, cooperation and security, and made several suggestions in this regard. The Prime Minister called upon fellow leaders to strive to transform Bay of Bengal into a Bridge of Connectivity, Prosperity, and Security among the BIMSTEC-member countries.

Prime Minister Modi along with other leaders also witnessed the signing of three BIMSTEC agreements which represent progress being achieved in ongoing cooperation activities: (i) BIMSTEC Convention on Mutual Legal Assistance in Criminal Matters; (ii) BIMSTEC Memorandum of Understanding on Mutual Cooperation in the field of Diplomatic Training and (iii) Memorandum of Association on Establishment of BIMSTEC Technology Transfer Facility.

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