New Delhi: The much-awaited BIMSTEC or Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation will be hosted by Sri Lanka on March 30. Sri Lanka is keen to host an in-person summit, but it could also happen in a hybrid format. Most of the member states have given a formal intimation over participation at the summit. It is not yet known if Prime Minister Narendra Modi will participate virtually or travel to Sri Lanka for the summit.
PM Modi's visit to the UAE on January 6 was postponed due to the Omicron crisis. The summit will see approval of the BIMSTEC Charter, BIMSTEC Master Plan for Transport Connectivity and BIMSTEC Convention on Mutual Legal Assistance in Criminal Matters. The group will also work towards the finalization of the BIMSTEC Coastal Shipping Agreement and the Motor Vehicles Agreement.
BIMSTEC is a seven-member grouping that includes India, Nepal, Bhutan, Bangladesh, Myanmar, Thailand, and Sri Lanka. The grouping is more than 20 years old and was formed in 1997. The last summit took place in Kathmandu in 2018, with PM Modi and other member-leaders attending the meet. Sri Lanka is the current chair of the grouping. The group has become more important for New Delhi since SAARC remains hostage to Pakistan. In 2019, India had invited all BIMSTEC heads of government and states to PM Modi's oath-taking ceremony for the second term.
Sri Lanka was keen to hold the summit last year several times but it could not happen due to the Covid crisis. April 2021 saw the BIMSTEC foreign minister meeting virtually, a meeting in which External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar also participated.
The summit in March this year will naturally be in focus because of Myanmar's presence. The country saw a coup last year on February 1 and since then, not many have been keen to host the current military leadership of the country. It must be noted that the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN), during its 2021 annual summit, did not invite Gen Min Aung Hlaing who seized power in Myanmar
