Prime Minister Narendra Modi will attend the 6th BIMSTEC summit to be held in Bangkok from April 3 to 4. The summit is being hosted by Thailand, the current chairman of Bimstech. The Prime Minister will go to Sri Lanka from 4 to 6 April on his official visit.
The Ministry of External Affairs (Mea) said in a statement, “On the invitation of the Prime Minister of Thailand, His Majesty Pategatarna Shinavatra, Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi will visit Bangkok, Thailand from 3-4 April 2025 to attend the sixth BIMSTEC Summit to be held on 4 April 2025, which will be held by the current Bimstek Chairman and it will be an official visit. That will be the third visit to Thailand. “
This will be the first physical meeting of BIMSTEC leaders after the fourth BIMSTEC summit held in Kathmandu, Nepal in 2018. The 5th BIMSTEC summit was held on 22 March in Colombo, Sri Lanka.
The sixth BIMSTEC summit is the theme “Bimstech – rich, flexible and open”. During the summit, the leaders are expected to discuss ways and means of giving more speed to BIMSTEC cooperation during the summit.
The Ministry of External Affairs said in a statement, “Various institutional and capacity building measures are also expected to be discussed by leaders to increase cooperation within the BIMSTEC structure.”
It states, “India is taking several initiatives in BIMSTEC to strengthen regional cooperation and partnership, including enhancing security, facilitating trade and investment, establishing physical, sea and digital contacts, cooperating in food, energy, climate and human security, promoting capacity building and skill development and increasing relations between people.”
During his visit, Prime Minister Modi is scheduled to hold a meeting with his counterpart Pitagarn Shinavatra in Thailand on 3 April. During the meeting, the two leaders are expected to review bilateral cooperation and create a way for future partnership between countries. India and Thailand are sea neighbors, among which are shared civilized bonds, based on cultural, linguistic and religious relations.
After the conclusion of his visit to Thailand, Prime Minister Modi will visit Sri Lanka on a state visit from 4-6 April 2025 at the invitation of Sri Lankan President Anura Kumara Disanayaka.
During the visit, Prime Minister Modi will discuss with disinnibea to review the progress made in the areas of cooperation agreed in the joint approach to the Sri Lankan President’s state visit to India.
The Prime Minister will also hold a meeting with senior dignitaries and political leaders. As part of the journey, he will also go to Anuradhapura to inaugurate the development projects implemented with Indian financial assistance.
Prime Minister Modi’s last visit to Sri Lanka was in 2019. Earlier, the President of Sri Lanka took a state visit to India as his first foreign trip after taking over. The Ministry of External Affairs said that Prime Minister Modi’s visit to Thailand, Sri Lanka and his participation at the BIMSTEC summit will confirm India’s commitment to India’s ‘neighbor first’ and ‘Act East’ policy.
The Ministry of External Affairs said in a statement, “India and Sri Lanka share civilized bonds with strong cultural and historical relations. The journey is part of regular high -level contacts between the two countries and this will help deepen the multidimensional partnership between India and Sri Lanka.”
It said, “The Prime Minister’s visit to Thailand and Sri Lanka and his participation in the 6th BIMSTEC summit will confirm India’s ‘Neighbors’ policy, ‘Act East’ policy, ‘ocean’ (mutual and overall advancement for security and development in fields) and will confirm India’s commitment to the attitudes of Hind-Prastana.”
