Kathmandu July 17 : The Foreign Ministers of BIMSTEC member nations have discussed on ways of consolidating cooperation within the regional organization. During the BIMSTEC foreign ministers’ meet in Bangkok, Thailand today, discussions were held on matters of energy cooperation, expansion of power transmission line, climate change, health and food security and technology, among others, said Minister for Foreign Affairs Narayan Prakash Saud, who is participating in the meeting.

“In Bangkok, we the Foreign Ministers of BIMSTEC member states have held fruitful discussions on strengthening the mutual cooperation. The major areas of our discussion were energy, expansion of transmission line, climate change, health and food security and technology,” he said. Minister Saud had left here for Bangkok on Sunday to attend the BIMSTEC Foreign Ministers’ Retreat. Nepal, India, Bhutan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Thailand and Myanmar are the members of the Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC).

Foreign Minister Saud and his Indian counterpart S. Jaishankar are scheduled to hold a ‘sideline’ meeting in Bangkok today, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said. Nepal is the lead country to promote people-to-people contacts in the BIMSTEC region. The Foreign Minister will return to Kathmandu on 18 July 2023.