BIMSTEC Secretary General Indra Mani Pandey has paid an official visit to Sri Lanka, a founding member of the regional organisation, underscoring its commitment to strengthening regional cooperation in order to address the shared developmental and security challenges. 

During the recent visit, he called on Dr. Harini Amarasuriya, prime minister of Sri Lanka, who reaffirmed Sri Lanka’s steadfast commitment to BIMSTEC and emphasized the critical role of strengthening collaboration in science, technology and innovation as well as health and human resource development.

Sri Lanka leads regional cooperation in these sectors under the BIMSTEC framework, according to a release received here on Tuesday.

Bimstec Summit: A meeting between Dr Yunus and Modi in the making?

The secretary general commended the government of Sri Lanka for its leadership in advancing regional cooperation not only in sectors which it Leads but also in other sectors.

He also met with several ministers and officials of Sri Lanka during the visit.

BIMSTEC comprises seven countries of the Bay of Bengal region: Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Myanmar, Nepal, Sri Lanka and Thailand. 

Bimstec chief highlights Dhaka’s key role in deepening regional cooperation

It pursues regional cooperation in seven broad sectors: Agriculture and Food Security; Connectivity; Environment and Climate Change; People to People Contact; Science, Technology and Innovation; Security; and Trade, Investment and Development. 

The cooperation also covers eight sub-sectors: Blue Economy, Mountain Economy, Energy, Disaster Management, Fisheries and Livestock, Poverty Alleviation, Health and Human Resource Development.