PM to hold bilateral meetings with all BIMSTEC leaders

New Delhi, Nov 11 (UNI) Prime Minister Manmohan Singh will hold bilateral meetings with all Heads of State/Government of member countries of the seven-nation Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic (BIMSTEC) cooperation here tomorrow and on Thursday on the sidelines of the BIMSTEC Summit.

The meetings with the Prime Ministers of Myanmar and Nepal and the Chief Advisor of Bangladesh will take place tomorrow while those with the Prime Ministers of Bhutan and Thailand and the Sri Lankan President will be held on Thursday.

The Sri Lankan President and the Thai Prime Minister will arrive tonight and the Heads of State/Government from four other countries will arrive tomorrow to attend the Summit, officials said.

The officials said during the bilateral meetings, the Prime Minister is expected to raise with Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa the issue of Sri Lankan Tamils and that of restoration of democracy in Myanmar with Myanmar's Prime Minister Gen. Thein Seim.

The two-day conference, held every three years, will begin tomorrow with the meeting of the BIMSTEC Foreign Ministers.

BIMSTEC, established in 1997, accounts for about 22 per cent XXX Picking up Third Para of DI 44 Extrenal--BIMSTEC-meeting.

UNI RB BDP RN2113