Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi is com­ing to Nepal, in what will be his fourth visit, to attend the fourth summit of the Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIM­STEC) being held in Kathman­du on August 30 and 31. This regional body is comprised of four countries from South Asia (Bhutan, India, Nepal and Sri Lanka) and two countries from South-East Asia (Myan­mar and Thailand).According to a Foreign Ministry source, along with Modi, there is a high chance that the executive heads of all seven countries will participate. During the last Nepal-India Eminent Persons Groups meeting in Kathmandu, the Indian EPG members had also informed that Modi would be coming to Kathmandu for the BIMSTEC summit.

 

The source said Nepal’s emphasis during the summit will be on coming up with a BIMSTEC charter, which the member countries have been unable to agree on in the 20 years of the organiza­tion’s existence.