Amid China’s bid, PM praises Lanka as Bimstec leader

At a time when China is steadily increasing its footprints across India’s southern maritime neighbour Sri Lanka much to New Delhi’s discomfiture, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday complimented the island nation for “providing able leadership” to regional grouping Bimstec (Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation) of which it is the current Chair.

In a written message on the occasion of the 24th Bimsetc Day, PM Modi also said “progress has been made on several fronts including finalisaion of the Bimstec Master Plan transport connectivity and the text of the Bimstec charter”.

With South Asian grouping SAARC in cold storage due to the IndoPak tensions in previous years, India has invested its hopes for regional cooperation in Bimsetc — which does not have Pakistan as a member. Bimstec comprises India, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Myanmar, Nepal, Sri Lanka, and Thailand. With the exception of south-east Asian countries Myanmar and Thailand which are members of Asean, the rest of the Bimstec countries are also members of Saarc. Apart from Pakistan, the only other Saarc countries not part of Bimstec are Afghanistan and the Maldives.

“I commend Sri Lanka, the current chair of Bimstec, for providing able leadership to Bimstec during this time,” PM Modi said. Observers point out that this comes even as India is keeping a very close watch on developments regarding the Chinesebacked Colombo port city project in the island nation.

Modi added, “Bimstec has emerged as a promising regional grouping to fulfil the common aspirations of its people and serve the shared interests of the member-states. I am happy to note that regional cooperation under Bimstec framework has intensified substantially in the recent years. Progress has been made on several fronts including finalisaion of the Bimstec Master Plan transport connectivity and the text of the Bimstec charter.”