India prefers BIMSTEC to SAARC: Jaishankar |
After India elected Narendra Modi to the seat of Prime Minister for the first time in 2014, India`s global stature rose significantly in his first tenure and according to new external affairs minister S. Jaishankar, this rise has played a pivotal role in the NDA retaining power for a second consecutive term. Mr. Jaishankar is bound to make his first trip abroad as minister to Bhutan on Friday and Saturday, where he will meet both the King and the Prime Minister. While addressing a seminar on Thursday, he said, India would aim to enhance regional cooperation under the Bimstec grouping as there have been certain problems with Saarc. His comments clearly indicated India`s preference for Bimstec now instead of Saarc, the new minister said that Bimstec is witnessing a great deal of positive energy and that it was decided to leverage that and invite the leaders of the Bimstec nations to the swearing-in ceremony of Prime Minister Modi last month. Bimstec refers to the Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation — which includes India, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Myanmar, Nepal, Sri Lanka, and Thailand. Saarc has been virtually non active due to India-Pakistan tensions since 2016 over Pakistan`s continued support to cross-border terrorism aimed at India.
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