External Affairs Minister Dr S Jaishankar today said that for India, BIMSTEC represents the intersection of its ‘Neighbourhood First’ outlook, the ‘Act East Policy’ and the ‘SAGAR’ vision. Dr Jaishankar was speaking on the occasion of the 2nd Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC) Foreign Ministers’ Retreat in New Delhi. He added that each of these endeavours is being purposed with a specific focus on the Bay of Bengal, where collaborative potential has long remained underrealized.
Dr. Jaishankar said that the message from the foreign ministers should be clear that they all are determined to infuse new energies, new resources and a new commitment to cooperation among the Bay of Bengal nations. He said that there are longstanding goals such as capacity building and economic cooperation that have acquired a new urgency and stressed that a complementary and congenial grouping like BIMSTEC should surely harbour higher aspirations.
Dr Jaishankar also informed that the discussion in the first part of the retreat will revolve around connectivity, institution building, cooperation in trade and business, collaboration in health and space, digital public infrastructure, capacity building as well as weighing on the merits of mechanisms.
