Nepal Seeks To Endorse BIMSTEC Charter

• 05 Apr 2024

Recently, a majority in the Lower House of Nepal supported the proposal seeking endorsement of the BIMSTEC Charter.

• BIMSTEC Charter was signed and adopted during the Fifth BIMSTEC Summit held in Colombo, Sri Lanka in 2022.
• It provides a legal and institutional framework for BIMSTEC, aiming to create an enabling environment for rapid economic development through the identification and implementation of specific cooperation projects in the agreed areas of cooperation and other areas that may be agreed upon by the Member States.
• It reaffirms the commitment to the principles and purposes of BIMSTEC as enshrined in the Bangkok Declaration of 1997.
• The adoption of the BIMSTEC Charter formalises the grouping into an organisation made up of member states that are littoral to, and dependent upon, the Bay of Bengal.
• The Charter allows BIMSTEC to engage in external relations with non-member States, developmental partners, and regional as well as the UN and International Organisations.
• It stresses the need for a fair, just, equitable, and transparent international order and reaffirms faith in multilateralism with the United Nations at the centre and the rule-based international trading system.