Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC) leaders today (on 30th March) signed the BIMSTEC Charter at the 5th Summit held in Sri Lankan capital city Colombo placing the organization’s activities on a more structured and rule based platform.
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and her Indian counterpart Narendra Modi joined the Summit virtually, hosted by current BIMSTEC chair Sri Lanka, from Dhaka and New Delhi respectively with other BIMSTEC leaders from Bhutan, Nepal, Thailand and Myanmar.
A Memorandum of Association (MoA) on the Establishment of BIMSTEC Technology Transfer Facility (TTF) in Colombo, Sri Lanka was signed by Ministers of Foreign Affairs or the nominated signatories of the BIMSTEC Member States.
A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on Mutual Cooperation between Diplomatic Academies/Training Institutions of BIMSTEC Member States was signed by the Minister of Foreign Affairs or the nominated signatories of the BIMSTEC Member States.
BIMSTEC Convention on mutual legal assistance in criminal matters was signed by the Ministers of Foreign Affairs, Minister of Justice or the nominated signatories of the BIMSTEC Member States.
Later, a declaration of the 5th BIMSTEC Summit was adopted.
Gotabaya Rajapaksa, President of Sri Lanka, formally opened the Summit by joining virtually in the morning. Foreign Minister Dr AK Abdul Momen attended the Summit in person representing Bangladesh.
Thailand has taken over the chairmanship of the BIMSTEC after conclusion of the 5th BIMSTEC Summit.
