Nepal's Sewa Lamsal to attend BIMSTEC foreign ministers' retreat in India

Kathmandu: Nepal Foreign Secretary Sewa Lamsal will attend the BIMSTEC foreign ministers’ retreat to be hosted by India, during which discussions to strengthen regional cooperation and partnerships in areas of mutual interests will be held.

Lamsal is leading a delegation to attend the Second Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC) Foreign Ministers’ Retreat scheduled from July 11 to 12 in New Delhi.

The first edition of the BIMSTEC foreign ministers' retreat was held in Bangkok on July 17, 2023.

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar will host his counterparts from the BIMSTEC member countries at the two-day retreat.

“During the Retreat, discussions will be held on further strengthening regional cooperation and partnerships in agreed areas of mutual interests and complementarities within the BIMSTEC framework,” the Ministry of Foreign Affairs here said in a statement.

During the retreat, the foreign ministers and heads of delegations are scheduled to pay a joint call to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the ministry said.

Lamsal will return to Kathmandu on July 13 after wrapping up the visit.

The retreat will present an opportunity for the foreign ministers to discuss avenues to deepen cooperation across various sectors, including security, connectivity and trade, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) in New Delhi said.

The BIMSTEC brings together seven South and Southeast Asian countries for multifaceted cooperation. It comprises India, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Myanmar, Thailand, Nepal and Bhutan.

The sixth BIMSTEC summit is scheduled to be held in Thailand this year.

The summit is set to seal an agreement on maritime transport cooperation, which is expected to boost trade among the member states.