By Saadet Gokce
ISTANBUL — Countries bordering the Bay of Bengal signed a maritime cooperation agreement on Thursday during a meeting of top diplomats in Bangkok, ahead of a regional summit.
The agreement was reached by members of the Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation, or BIMSTEC, whose leaders are scheduled to meet on Friday.
The deal represents a “significant step towards” improved regional connectivity, according to a statement from Bangladesh’s Foreign Ministry.
Bangkok is hosting the BIMSTEC summit from Wednesday to Friday. The group includes Thailand, Myanmar, India, Bangladesh, Nepal, Sri Lanka, and Bhutan. It was established in 1997.
Bangladesh Foreign Affairs Adviser Touhid Hossain raised the issue of the 1.2 million Rohingya refugees currently hosted in Bangladesh, calling for a “conducive atmosphere” in Myanmar to enable their return.
Member states also agreed to hold the next ministerial meeting in Dhaka.
Myanmar’s junta chief Min Aung Hlaing is set to attend the summit on Friday. His trip marks his first visit to Bangkok since seizing power in a 2021 coup. The visit was initially expected to be canceled after two powerful earthquakes — with magnitudes of 7.7 and 6.4 — struck Myanmar last Friday.