Foreign Affairs Minister Dinesh Gunawardena has been elected to chair the 17th Session of the Ministerial Meeting of the Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC). Presiding over the conference held in Colombo on 01 April, Minister Gunawardena stated that the charter of the Association of Parliamentarians of BIMSTEC Member States should be finalized early. The member countries of the BIMSTEC, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Myanmar, Nepal and Thailand were also connected with Sri Lanka virtually during the meeting, the Foreign Affairs Ministry said in a media release. The Minister also stressed the need to expedite the implementation of the BIMSTEC Transport Connectivity Master Plan prepared by the Asian Development Bank. The Sri Lankan delegation to the Ministerial Meeting was led by the State Minister for Regional Cooperation, Tharaka Balasuriya.

Source: The Nation April 03, 2021 16:41 UTC