• The Ministry of External Affairs, in collaboration with the Bharat Scouts and Guides, hosted the BIMSTEC Young Leaders’ Conference on Climate Change in New Delhi.

• It was held with the objective of empowering youth and promoting collaborative efforts to address climate change in the Bay of Bengal region. 

• More than 150 participants from seven BIMSTEC member countries participated in the event.

• The 5-day congregation of young leaders of BIMSTEC discussed the challenges and opportunities for the region in dealing with climate change and developing a comprehensive understanding of the issue, equipped with the skills and motivation to lead and advocate for effective climate action.

• The event was part of India’s efforts in fostering regional cooperation among BIMSTEC member states towards climate change awareness in line with our ‘Neighborhood First’ policy, ‘Act East’ policy and ‘Security & Growth for All in the Region (SAGAR)’ vision.

What is BIMSTEC?

• The Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC) comprises India, Bangladesh, Myanmar, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Bhutan and Nepal.

• It is a regional bloc comprising seven countries lying in the littoral and adjacent areas of the Bay of Bengal constituting a contiguous regional unity.

• This sub-regional organisation came into being on June 6, 1997 through the Bangkok Declaration. It constitutes five countries from South Asia (Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Nepal and Sri Lanka) and two from Southeast Asia (Myanmar and Thailand).

• Initially, the economic bloc was formed with four member states with the acronym BIST-EC (Bangladesh, India, Sri Lanka and Thailand Economic Cooperation). Following the inclusion of Myanmar on December 22, 1997 during a special ministerial meeting in Bangkok, the group was renamed BIMSTEC (Bangladesh, India, Myanmar, Sri Lanka and Thailand Economic Cooperation).

• With the admission of Nepal and Bhutan at the sixth ministerial meeting in February 2004, the name of the grouping was changed to Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC).

• The BIMSTEC region is home to about 1.8 billion people, accounting for about 22 per cent of the global population with a combined GDP of $4.5 trillion.

• The BIMSTEC Secretariat is situated in Dhaka.

• India has been pushing for making BIMSTEC a vibrant forum as various regional initiatives under South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) were not moving forward primarily due to non-cooperation from Pakistan.

• For India, BIMSTEC is a natural choice to take forward key foreign policy priorities like ‘Neighbourhood First’ and ‘Act East’ as the bloc enjoys the strength of connecting South and Southeast Asia. 

• Initially, six sectors — trade, technology, energy, transport, tourism and fisheries — were included for sectoral cooperation. It was later expanded to 14 areas of cooperation.

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