Prime Minister of India Narendra Modi participated in the 6th BIMSTEC (Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation) Summit hosted by Thailand, the current chair.

The theme of the Summit was - "BIMSTEC: Prosperous, Resilient and Open”. It reflected the priorities of the leaders and the aspirations of the peoples of the BIMSTEC region, as well as the efforts of BIMSTEC in ensuring shared growth in times of global uncertainties.

Prime Minister began his address by offering condolences on the loss of lives in the devastating earthquake in Myanmar and Thailand. He thanked Prime Minister Shinawatra for successfully steering the Group.

Highlighting BIMSTEC as a vital bridge between South Asia and South-East Asia, Prime Minister underlined that the Group had become an impactful platform for regional cooperation, coordination and progress. In this regard, he called for further strengthening the agenda and capacity of BIMSTEC.

Prime Minister announced several India-led initiatives towards institution and capacity building in BIMSTEC. These include setting up of BIMSTEC Centres of Excellence in India on Disaster Management, Sustainable Maritime Transport, Traditional Medicine, and Research and Training in Agriculture.

PM Modi also announced a new programme for skilling the youth – BODHI [BIMSTEC for Organized Development of Human Resource Infrastructure] under which training and scholarships would be provided to professionals, students, researchers, diplomats and others.

PM Modi also offered a pilot study by India to assess regional needs in Digital Public Infrastructure and a capacity building program for cancer care in the region.

Calling for greater regional economic integration, Prime Minister offered to establish BIMSTEC Chamber of Commerce and to organize BIMSTEC Business Summit every year in India.

Emphasizing on the need to build upon the historic and cultural ties that bring the region together, Prime Minister announced several initiatives to further strengthen people-to-people linkages.

India would be hosting a BIMSTEC Athletics Meet this year and the first BIMSTEC Games in 2027 when the group celebrates its 30th anniversary. It would also host a BIMSTEC Traditional Music Festival.

To bring the youths of the region closer, Prime Minister announced a Young Leaders’ Summit, a Hackathon and a Young Professional Visitors’ program.

The Summit adopted the following:

• Summit Declaration
• BIMSTEC Bangkok Vision 2030 document, which lays out the road map for the collective prosperity of the region.
• Signing of the BIMSTEC Maritime Transport Agreement, which provides for – National Treatment and assistance to vessels, crew and cargo; mutual recognition of certificates/ documents; Joint Shipping Coordination Committee; and dispute settlement mechanism
• Report of the BIMSTEC Eminent Persons Group constituted to make recommendations for future direction for the BIMSTEC.

The Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC) is an international organization of seven South Asian and Southeast Asian nations, housing 1.73 billion people and having a combined gross domestic product of US$5.2 trillion (2023). The BIMSTEC member states – Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Myanmar, Nepal, Sri Lanka, and Thailand – are among the countries dependent on the Bay of Bengal. Fourteen priority sectors of cooperation have been identified and several BIMSTEC centers have been established to focus on those sectors. A BIMSTEC free trade agreement is under negotiation (c. 2018), referred to as similar to SAARC. Leadership is rotated in alphabetical order of country names. The permanent secretariat is in Dhaka, Bangladesh.

On 6 June 1997, a new sub-regional grouping was formed in Bangkok under the name BIST-EC (Bangladesh, India, Sri Lanka, and Thailand Economic Cooperation). Following the inclusion of Myanmar on 22 December 1997 during a special Ministerial Meeting in Bangkok, the Group was renamed 'BIMST-EC' (Bangladesh, India, Myanmar, Sri Lanka and Thailand Economic Cooperation). In 1998, Nepal became an observer. In February 2004, Nepal and Bhutan became full members.

On 31 July 2004, in the first Summit the grouping was renamed as BIMSTEC or the Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation. There are 14 main sectors of BIMSTEC along technological and economic cooperation among South Asian and Southeast Asian countries along the coast of the Bay of Bengal.

• Trade & Investment
• Transport & Communication
• Energy
• Tourism
• Technology
• Fisheries
• Agriculture
• Public Health
• Poverty Alleviation
• Counter-Terrorism & Transnational Crime
• Environment & Disaster Management
• People-to-People Contact
• Cultural Cooperation
• Climate Change

Sectors 7 to 13 were added at the 8th Ministerial Meeting in Dhaka in 2005 while the 14th sector was added in 11th Ministerial Meeting in New Delhi in 2008.