Prime Minister KP Oil is set to embark on the first official bilateral visit to Thailand. After completing his bilateral engagements in Thailand, he will lead the Nepali delegation at the sixth Bimstec summit.

Oli and his delegation members will leave for Bangkok on Tuesday.

Government officials confirmed that meetings with some heads of state participating in the summit have been confirmed. But a meeting with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, which Oli is looking for, has yet to be confirmed.

“Some meetings with heads of state have been confirmed, but due to the recent earthquake in Myanmar, changes in the schedules of Myanmar’s leaders have led to adjustments in bilateral meetings,” said a Bangkok-based Nepali diplomat.

“If there is to be a meeting [with Modi], it is most likely to be on April 4,” said another foreign ministry official.

This is the first official bilateral visit of a Nepali prime minister to Thailand in 65 years since the two countries established diplomatic relations, Oli said while informing Parliament about his upcoming Thailand visit.

The official visit begins on Wednesday with a meeting between Oli and his Thai counterpart, Paetongtran Shinawatra. After delegation level talks, eight different agreements and memorandums of understanding will be signed.

Agreements on culture and tourism will be signed between the two governments, while Nepali and Thai private sectors and universities will sign six more memorandums of understanding, according to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

After signing of the bilateral agreements, two prime ministers will hold a joint press conference. Oli’s Thailand visit will conclude with a meeting with King Maha Vajiralongkorn.

On Thursday morning, the prime minister will interact with Thai business leaders and, in the afternoon, address the Asian Institute of Technology, a premier education institution in Thailand where many Nepali students have studied or are currently enrolled.

Following his bilateral engagements, Oli will lead the Nepali delegation to the sixth Bimstec summit hosted by Thailand. He will address the summit on April 4. The Thai prime minister will chair the opening session, leading discussions on key topics such as trade and investment, infrastructure connectivity, and food security cooperation.

“Due to time constraints, Bimstec leaders will arrive in Thailand only on Thursday. That evening, we will attend a dinner with Bimstec leaders. During the summit sidelines, we will try our best to meet foreign leaders. On Friday, we will attend the summit. I will attend the signing ceremony for the Agreement on Maritime Transport Cooperation, and later in the afternoon, attend an event organised by Nepali Embassy in Thailand,” Oli said in Parliament on Monday.

Bimstec, established in 1997, fosters regional cooperation between South and Southeast Asia. It comprises seven member states—Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Myanmar, Nepal, Sri Lanka and Thailand.

Thailand chairs the group for the 2022-2024 period, until the handover at the upcoming summit. Bimstec aspires to achieve a “prosperous, resilient, and open region known as pro-Bimstec” by 2030.

Prime Minister Oli will be accompanied by Foreign Minister Arzu Rana Deuba; Bishnu Prasad Rimal, chief advisor to the prime minister; Yuba Raj Khatiwada, economic and development advisor to the prime minister; and several high-ranking government officials. The prime minister will return home on April 5.

According to the Bimstec secretariat, the summit will be preceded by a meeting of Bimstec senior officials on April 2 and a meeting of Bimstec foreign or external affairs ministers on April 3. The foreign secretaries of all seven member states comprise the senior officials’ meeting.

The theme of the 6th summit, which is being held three years after the fifth summit, which was held virtually in Colombo on March 30, 2022, is “Prosperous, Resilient, and Open Bimstec”.

The Bangkok summit will adopt the declaration of the sixth Bimstec summit, which will reflect the vision of the leaders as well as their decisions and directives, and adopt the Bangkok Vision 2030.

“This is the first vision document which will be adopted by the leaders,” the secretariat said, adding that it provides a comprehensive and practical roadmap for future cooperation among member states.

The Maritime Transport Cooperation agreement to be signed at the summit aims to expand sea transport in Bay of Bengal with a view to enhancing trade and travel among member states.

The member states will also sign memoranda of understanding between Bimstec and the Indian Ocean Rim Association (IORA), as well as Bimstec and United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC).

The summit will adopt the Rules of Procedure for the Bimstec Mechanisms, which, together with the charter, lay the foundation of an institutional framework for regional cooperation under Bimstec. It will also adopt the report of Eminent Persons’ Group on the Future Direction of Bimstec.

Bimstec, which brings together five countries from South Asia and two countries from SouthEast Asia, is poised to evolve into a vibrant and dynamic regional organization, the statement issued by the secretariat reads.

Since Bimstec’s inception in June 1997, five summits have been held: Bangkok (2004), New Delhi (2008), Nay Pyi Daw (2014), Kathmandu (2018) and Colombo (2022).

Bimstec pursues regional cooperation in seven broad sectors: Agriculture & Food Security; Connectivity; Environment & Climate Change; People-to-People Contact; Science, Technology & Innovation; Security; and Trade, Investment & Development.

The cooperation also covers eight sub-sectors: Blue Economy, Mountain Economy, Energy, Disaster Management, Fisheries & Livestock, Poverty Alleviation, Health, and Human Resource Development.