Political development in any member country has no impact on the functioning of BIMSTEC, said the regional group’s secretary general Indra Mani Pandey on Tuesday.
In an exclusive interview with ANI, the Secretary-General said the BIMSTEC focuses on technical and economic cooperation between member countries while staying away from political issues and internal political developments of the countries.
His remarks come amid political turmoil in Bangladesh as Sheikh Hasina resigned as Prime Minister and fled the country amid ongoing widespread protest and violence.
Being asked about the impact of political developments in member countries on the functioning of BIMSTEC, the Secretary General of the Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC) stated that the organization remains unaffected by political crises in member countries.
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BIMSTEC comprises of seven member countries: Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Myanmar, Nepal, Sri Lanka, and Thailand. Its headquarters is located in Dhaka, the capital of Bangladesh, which is embroiled in political violence.
“BIMSTEC by nature has focused on technical and economic cooperation it has stayed away from political issues and internal political development of the countries. As far as activities under the BIMSTEC framework are concerned these developments have so far had no impact,” he said.
“All the countries have been regularly participating in all the meetings. In fact, recently we had a foreign ministers retreat in Delhi hosted by Indian External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar, in which all the member states participated. Similarly, in Myanmar, there was a meeting of national security chiefs in which national security chiefs of all the member states participated. So BIMSTEC has been a platform where all the member states have been able to come together and discuss matters which focus mainly on cooperation,” he added.
The Secretary-General is in Delhi for the BIMSTEC Business Summit. Sheikh Hasina resigned on Monday amid mounting protests, sparking unrest across the country. She arrived at Hindon Air Base near New Delhi aboard a C-130 Hercules military transport aircraft.
Prothom Alo, a prominent Bangladeshi newspaper, reported that protesters set fire to the Awami League’s Dhaka district office on Monday. The agitators also targeted the office of Sheikh Hasina, the Awami League president in Dhaka. Protesters were seen chanting slogans and celebrating the news of her resignation.
The demonstrations, initially led by students calling for the abolition of a quota system for government jobs, quickly transformed into a broader uprising against former Prime Minister Hasina and her ruling Awami League party.
On Sunday, violent clashes in Dhaka resulted in at least 95 deaths, including 14 police officers, with hundreds more injured, as reported by Prothom Alo.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by Newsx staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
