India Hosts BIMSTEC Young Diplomats: Strengthening Bay of Bengal Ties

In a statement on Wednesday, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) stated, "It will expose them (diplomats) to new approaches to look at geopolitical and geoeconomic landscapes as also priority areas of cooperation in the region."

The initiative by MEA is part of India's efforts to strengthen cooperation among young diplomats from the Bay of Bengal region.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi had announced the programme at the 6th BIMSTEC Summit in Bangkok to strengthen institutional and capacity-building efforts in the region, in the spirit of India’s 'Neighborhood First' and 'Act East' policies, according to the statement.

SSIFS Dean, Ambassador Raj Kumar Srivastava inaugurated the second Special Course for Diplomats for BIMSTEC countries. During the inaugural session, Srivastava spoke about the concept of 'diplomacy', idea of 'Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam' and elaborated on the pillars of the Indian Foreign Policy, Strategic Horizon, Core Dimensions of its Resilience, according to SSIFS' statement on X.

In a statement posted on X, Sushma Swaraj Institute of Foreign Service stated, "He also spoke about 4Ts (trade, technology, tourism, talent) of the 'Diplomacy for Development' and covered about Govt of India's initiatives (ISA, CDRI, IBSA, GBA) along with discussing about BIMSTEC (origin, purposes & aims) as an organisation."

The Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC) is a grouping of seven Member States lying in the littoral and adjacent areas of the Bay of Bengal. It is a unique link connecting South Asia with South-East Asia - five Members from South Asia (Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Nepal and Sri Lanka) and two from South-East Asia (Myanmar and Thailand). The BIMSTEC region together comprise 1.7 billion people - 22 per cent of world population with a combined GDP of USD five trillion.

- IANS