Thailand Hosts 6th BIMSTEC Summit in Bangkok with Regional Leaders in Focus.
International
In April 2025, Thailand, the current chair, hosted the 6th Summit of the Heads of State/Government of the member States of BIMSTEC (Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation) in Bangkok under the theme "Prosperous, Resilient, and Open BIMSTEC" (PRO BIMSTEC). The summit was chaired by Thailand Prime Minister (PM) Paetongtarn Shinawatra.
- The summit was attended by the Heads of State/Government of the member States to address their shared security and developmental challenges through institutional reform, strategic cooperation, and sustainable development.
- Prime Minister (PM) Narendra Modi represented India at the 6th BIMSTEC Summit.
- The Summit followed the 25th Session of the BIMSTEC Senior Officials' Meeting (SOM) on 2 April 2025 and the 20th Session of the Ministerial Meeting (MM) of BIMSTEC on 3 April 2025 in Bangkok.
Main Point :- (i) One of the major outcomes of the summit was the launch of the BIMSTEC Bangkok Vision 2030, the first-ever vision document of BIMSTEC, which charts a strategic roadmap to build a "PRO BIMSTEC" (Prosperous, Resilient, and Open BIMSTEC) by 2030.
(ii) Prime Minister Narendra Modi proposed a comprehensive 21-point action plan to boost regional cooperation. Key proposals included a pilot study on Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI), linking India’s UPI with BIMSTEC payment systems, hosting the BIMSTEC Athletics Meet in 2025, and organizing the first BIMSTEC Games in 2027, coinciding with BIMSTEC’s 30th anniversary.
(iii) Following the Summit, Bangladesh, a founding member of BIMSTEC, took over the Chairmanship of BIMSTEC for a 2-year term, succeeding Thailand.
About BIMSTEC
Secretary General (SG): Ambassador Indra Mani Pandey (India)
Secretariat : Dhaka, Bangladesh
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