India announces initiatives to make Bimstec tool for regional integration

New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday announced several India-led initiatives towards institution and capacity building at the Bangkok summit of the seven-nation grouping Bimstec, covering sectors including disaster management, digital public infrastructure, home minister mechanism and chamber of commerce.

The announcements are aimed at making regional economic integration more effective for the member nations of the Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multisectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (Bimstec). They include setting up of Bimstec Centres of Excellence in India on disaster management, sustainable maritime transport, traditional medicine, and research and training in agriculture.

Thailand, Myanmar, India, Bangladesh, Nepal, Sri Lanka and Bhutan are members of Bimstec.

Modi also announced a programme - BODHI - to train the youth. Under BODHI (Bimstec for Organized Development of Human Resource Infrastructure), training and scholarships would be provided to professionals, students, researchers and diplomats, among others. He also offered a pilot study by India to assess regional needs in digital public infrastructure and a capacity building programme for cancer care in the region.

Calling for greater regional economic integration, Modi offered to establish the Bimstec Chamber of Commerce and organise Bimstec business summit every year in India. Emphasising the need to build upon the historic and cultural ties that bring the seven nations of the region together, the prime minister also announced initiatives to strengthen people-to-people ties.

To bring youths of the region closer, Modi announced a Young Leaders' summit, a hackathon and a Young Professional Visitors programme. Modi also offered his condolences to those who lost their loved ones in the devastating earthquake that struck Myanmar and Thailand last week.