Chief Adviser of the new interim government of Bangladesh Dr Mohammad Yunus will attend the sixth BIMSTEC Summit scheduled to be held on September 4, 2024 in Bangkok, confirmed Foreign Secretary of Bangladesh government Masud bin Momen while talking to this correspondent at his office on Tuesday afternoon.

This will be the maiden visit of Dr Mohammad Yunus who took the oath as the Chief Adviser of the Caretaker on August 8, 2024.

The deep political crisis in Bangladesh and Thailand that saw both heads of two governments in both countries stepping down this month has created uncertainty in holding the sixth BIMSTEC Summit  in Bangkok, sources said.

Meanwhile, Thailand’s king has officially endorsed Paetongtarn Shinawatra, a scion of the country’s most famed and divisive political dynasty, to become the country’s new prime minister.

Her appointment follows a series of twists and turns in Thai politics over the past week, during which the Constitutional Court ousted Srettha Thavisin, her predecessor from the same Pheu Thai party.

The country’s youngest ever prime minister at 37 years old, Paetongtarn is the daughter of ousted former leader Thaksin Shinawatra. She becomes Thailand’s second woman prime minister, after her aunt – and Thaksin’s sister – Yingluck Shinawatra.

Meanwhile, Thai Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra will hand over the chairmanship of BIMSTEC to Dr Mohammad Yunus at the end of the summit, sources said.

In the changed environment in Bangladesh with Sheikh Hasina, the Prime Minister of the country stepping down on August 5, 2024 ending her 15-year plus brutal dictatorship against the backdrop of massive student movement, Bangladesh Chief Adviser Dr Mohammad Yunus are expected to discuss matters of mutual with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Bangkok beyond the schedule BIMSTEC meeting, sources said.

Dr Mohammad Yunus is expected to reach Bangkok on September 3 and return home on September 5, 2024, sources in Dhaka and Bangkok said. However, the sixth BIMSTEC Summit is a one-day event in Bangkok.

The ouster of Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, a trusted ally of the Modi government, has created a sense of insecurity in India, sources in Dhaka and New Delhi said.

The last Prime Minister of Bangladesh Sheikh Hasina tried her best to meet the Indian interest, and stopped using this land by terrorists and separatists to destabilize the seven sisters in neighboring country, sources said

Sources in Dhaka and New Delhi said the meeting between Dr Mohammad Yunus and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi will give a positive signal to reach a bilateral relation to a new height-based people to people relations at the BIMSTEC meeting.

In the last 15 years, South Block put emphasis on building relations between the two governments excluding the rest of the population of the both countries, sources said.

However, Bangladesh Chief Adviser Dr Mohammad Yunus will  meet Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the rest of the BIMSTEC leaders and are likely to discuss the matters of bilateral and regional issues.

Sources in Dhaka and New Delhi said Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi is likely to seek intervention of Dr Mohammad Yunus in protecting minorities and Indian citizens working in Bangladesh, ensuring security to the Indian investment and business and not giving space to separatists and terrorists using this land.

The country has been going through a transition period as the last dictator Prime Minister, Sheikh Hasina, left the economy in a total disarray. Local and international conspirators are trying to destabilize the country…..

Bangladesh has witnessed a change in power regime after Sheikh Hasina, a close ally of Modi government, quit the power against the backdrop of a massive student movement on the quota system in the government jobs.

Meanwhile, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on August 8, 2024 conveyed his best wishes to Professor Muhammad Yunus on the assumption of his new responsibilities as chief adviser of Bangladesh's interim government.

"India remains committed to working with Bangladesh to fulfill the shared aspirations of both our peoples for peace, security and development," he posted on his verified X handle (former twitter).

New Delhi, he said, hopes for an early return to normalcy in Bangladesh, ensuring the safety and protection of Hindus and all other minority communities.

Meanwhile, the leaders of BIMSTEC member states, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Myanmar, Nepal, Sri Lanka and Thailand, have resolved to elevate BIMSTEC collaboration to a higher plain by signing the BIMSTEC Charter, granting it a status of an intergovernmental organization and thus enhancing its visibility and credibility at international level. The meeting also adopted key documents and decisions that will yield tangible results for all, including the BIMSTEC Master Plan on Transport Connectivity, which had been proposed by Thailand at the last summit in 2018 in Nepal. As the new Lead Country in Connectivity, the BIMSTEC Summit has now paved a way for Thailand to play an ever more prominent role in enhancing inter-regional connectivity that will underpin Thailand’s role as bridge-builder, transport hub and business linkage between Southeast and South Asia and between the Indian and Pacific Oceans.

On 30 March 2022, the then Thai Prime Minister, Prayut Chan-o-cha, attended the 5th Summit of the Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC) virtually, at which Sri Lanka handed over the chairmanship of BIMSTEC to Thailand and pathbreaking achievements have been reached.

Srettha Thavisin is a Thai businessman and politician who has served as the 30th Prime Minister of Thailand since 22 August 2023. He was previously the chief executive and president of Sansiri. Srettha, originally from Bangkok, pursued a degree in Civil Engineering after high school.

BIMSTEC is one of the largest regional cooperation frameworks worldwide in terms of population, the size of economy and economic potential.

It is a region of increasing strategic, economic and commercial importance that has enjoyed peace and steady development since its inception in 1997 in Bangkok. As Chair of BIMSTEC, Thailand will closely work with all Member States towards realizing the vision the Prime Minister of Thailand presented at the summit: for Prosperous, Resilient and Robust, Open BIMSTEC or “PRO BIMSTEC”, while incorporating the BCG Economy Model as a guiding concept in each sector of cooperation.

Upon assuming the Chairmanship of BIMSTEC, Thailand, also as the host economy of APEC, is now at the driver’s seat in two economic cooperation frameworks that encompass almost 70% of the global GDP. In this unique position, Thailand is committed to working tirelessly with all partners for a robust post-pandemic economic recovery, closer business and people-to-people ties and inclusive and sustainable growth for the benefits of our peoples and beyond.

During the recent second informal BIMSTEC Foreign Ministers' Meeting in New Delhi, Maris Sangiampongsa, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Thailand, confirmed Thailand’s readiness to host the upcoming summit in September.

He highlighted the role of the private sector in implementing government policies effectively. The meeting was chaired by the Indian External Affairs Minister, while the meeting was joined by the ministers of foreign affairs of Bhutan, Bangladesh, and Myanmar, the Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of Sri Lanka, the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Nepal, and the Secretary-General of BIMSTEC.

In addition, Maris emphasized the importance of food, energy, human security, and youth participation. The meeting also discussed establishing coordination between member countries to deal with epidemics, natural disasters, and economic crises.

BIMSTEC stands for the Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation, and it includes Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Myanmar, Nepal, Sri Lanka, and Thailand as member states.

Meanwhile, Sri Lanka hosted the 5th Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC) Summit in Colombo during March 28-30, 2022.

The President of Sri Lanka chaired the 5th BIMSTEC Summit on 30 March, 2022 with the virtual participation of leaders of Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Nepal and Thailand. Myanmar, represented by the Foreign Minister of Myanmar at the Summit.

During the Summit and preceding meetings, the delegates discussed the progress of the BIMSTEC as a regional group.

The idea of creating a multilateral cooperation forum and the need to connect South and South East Asia started in the late 1990s. In June 1997, Bangladesh, India, Sri Lanka and Thailand took the first step to establish what was known as BIST-EC through the adoption of the Bangkok Declaration.  Later in the same year Myanmar joined the group.

In 2004, Nepal and Bhutan joined the bloc during which the first BIMSTEC Summit took place and it was only during this Summit that BIMSTEC was formally endorsed as the Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi Sectoral Technical Cooperation.