External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar Thursday said India will aim to enhance regional cooperation under the BIMSTEC grouping as there have been certain problems with SAARC.
Speaking at a seminar, he also said that implementation of developmental projects in neighbouring countries and elsewhere will be one of his key focus areas.
In his first public comments after taking charge of the external affairs ministry, he also said regional connectivity is going to be a key priority for India and BIMSTEC could be a key vehicle for economic prosperity and regional integration.
BIMSTEC, Jaishankar said, is witnessing a great deal of positive energy. It was decided to leverage that and invite the leaders of BIMSTEC nations to the swearing-in ceremony of Prime Minister Modi last month, he added.
"SAARC has certain problems and we all know what it is. Even if you were to put terrorism issue aside there are connectivity issues, there are trade issues," he said.
He said there was enormous scope for improving India's record in implementation of projects and that he is planning to personally monitor status of various key projects to ensure their speedy implementation.
Asked about the US-China trade dispute, Jaishankar indicated that it may present an opportunity for India.
Noting that South Asia was among the least interconnected regions in the world, the former foreign secretary said India will look towards BIMSTEC (Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation) to spur growth in the region.
Citing continuing support to cross-border terrorism from Pakistan, India has been maintaining that it was difficult to proceed with the SAARC initiative under current circumstances.
The last SAARC (South Asian Association of Regional Cooperation) Summit in 2014 was held in Kathmandu, which was attended by Modi. The 2016 SAARC Summit was to be held in Islamabad.
But after the terrorist attack on an Indian Army camp in Uri in Jammu and Kashmir on September 18 that year, India expressed its inability to participate in the summit.
The summit was called off after Bangladesh, Bhutan and Afghanistan also declined to participate. Maldives and Sri Lanka are the seventh and eighth members of the initiative.
In the past few years, India has been pushing for regional cooperation under the BIMSTEC umbrella.
Besides India, BIMSTEC comprises Bangladesh, Myanmar, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Nepal and Bhutan.
Founded in 1997, BIMSTEC currently represents over 1.5 billion people and has a combined gross domestic product of USD 3.5 trillion.
In 2014, Modi had invited all SAARC leaders, including the then Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif for his swearing-in ceremony, in a major initiative to reach out to the neighbourhood.
However, this time, the BIMSTEC leaders were invited, which was seen as an attempt to avoid inviting Pakistan for the event.
He also talked about efforts by the US to undermine the global trading system including the World Trade Organisation (WTO).
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