Time to make Bay of Bengal the bridge of connectivity, prosperity: PM at 5th BIMSTEC summit

New Delhi, Mar 30: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday said the time has come to make the Bay of Bengal the bridge of connectivity, prosperity and security.

Speaking at the virtual summit of the seven-nation BIMSTEC grouping, the Indian PM urged all BIMSTEC nations to dedicate themselves to working with new enthusiasm to achieve the goals that the group achieved in 1997.

Calling upon the nations to work together amid the war between Russia and Ukraine, he said, "The recent developments in Europe have raised questions about the stability of the international order. In this context, it has become a greater priority to have regional cooperation. Today we are adopting BIMSTEC charter to develop institution architecture for our group."

"We are working on extending and expanding the scope of the BIMSTEC scholarship program offered by the Nalanda International University. We are also signing a treaty on mutual legal assistance on criminal matters," he added.

The Indian PM said that it was time to make the Bay of Bengal the bridge of connectivity, prosperity and security.

"India will provide the (BIMSTEC) secretariat 1 million US dollars to increase its operational budget...It is important to strengthen the capacity of (BIMSTEC) secretariat...I suggest the Secretary-General create a roadmap for the same," he announced at 5th BIMSTEC summit.

The summit is being hosted by Sri Lanka in its capacity as the chair of the BIMSTEC (Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation).

Besides India and Sri Lanka, the BIMSTEC comprises Bangladesh, Myanmar, Thailand, Nepal and Bhutan.

Prime Minister Modi along with other leaders also witnessed the signing of three BIMSTEC agreements which represent progress being achieved in ongoing cooperation activities: (i) BIMSTEC Convention on Mutual Legal Assistance in Criminal Matters; (ii) BIMSTEC Memorandum of Understanding on Mutual Cooperation in the field of Diplomatic Training and (iii) Memorandum of Association on Establishment of BIMSTEC Technology Transfer Facility.