Nepal PM says BIMSTEC summit 'fruitful'

The recently concluded 4th BIMSTEC summit, hosted by Nepal, was "fruitful" in terms of both the decisions taken during the summit and its success, Prime Minister K P Sharma Oli said Tuesday.

The two-day summit, which was attended by Prime Minister Narendra Modi among others, was held on August 30 and 31 in Kathmandu.

The BIMSTEC is a regional grouping comprising India, Bangladesh, Myanmar, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Bhutan and Nepal. The grouping accounts for 22 per cent of the global population, and has a combined gross domestic product of USD 2.8 trillion.

The summit concluded with the seven member states approving an 18-point Kathmandu Declaration that called for identifying and holding accountable States and non-State entities that encourage, support or finance terrorism, provide sanctuaries to terrorists and falsely extol their virtues.

 

Briefing the Parliament about the summit, Oli said that Nepal's reputation, reliability, ability and prestige have been enhanced after successfully conducting the Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC) summit in Kathmandu.

"It has been seen that Nepal can hold any kind of programme in an organised manner," Oli said, adding that the "summit was effective and largely successful."

Prime Minister Oli said that bilateral discussions were held with Prime Minister Narendra Modi and also with the presidents of Myanmar and Sri Lanka on the sidelines of the Summit.

He said that he discussed regional interests and ways to resolve problems during separate meetings with the heads of state and government of the seven member states.

Oli, the chair of the summit, said that the summit focused on core areas (trade, investment, connectivity, energy, tourism) rather than proliferation.

Similarly, he said that the summit has paved way to sell electricity to India and other BIMSTEC member states.

Oli said that during the separate formal meetings with heads of the state and government of BIMSTEC member countries, discussions were held on various issues including to prevent terrorist activities in the member states and to abide by the Panchsheel Treaty (the five principles of peaceful coexistence) in the implementation of the Kathmandu Declaration.