Home Minister Sudan Gurung to visit India next week
Gurung will attend the first-ever BIMSTEC home ministers’ meeting in New Delhi, which is expected to discuss cross-cutting security issues among member states. RSS
Home Minister Sudan Gurung is scheduled to visit India next week in his first foreign trip since assuming office, according to officials at Nepal’s Ministry of Home Affairs and the Nepali Embassy in New Delhi.
Gurung will leave for New Delhi on October 12 and participate in the first meeting of home ministers of the Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC) on October 13, officials said.
The meeting will bring together home ministers from the seven-member regional grouping—Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Myanmar, Nepal, Sri Lanka and Thailand.
The BIMSTEC Home Ministers’ Meeting is being convened for the first time since the regional grouping was established in 1997, with the inaugural meeting taking place in New Delhi.
The meeting is expected to discuss multiple cross-cutting security issues among member states, said an official familiar with the meeting. The issues were recommended by meetings of BIMSTEC home secretaries and national security advisers held on different dates, the official said.
The ministerial meeting will be supported by a senior officials’ meeting of the home/interior ministries, according to BIMSTEC documents.
Security cooperation has been an important component of BIMSTEC’s regional agenda. At the fourth BIMSTEC Summit, held in Kathmandu in August 2018, the leaders expressed their determination to strengthen cooperation and coordination among law enforcement, intelligence and security agencies.
The leaders also decided to hold meetings of BIMSTEC home ministers and continue meetings of national security chiefs to promote cooperation and coordination on counterterrorism and transnational crime.
According to Nepali officials, the ministerial gathering will be preceded by a meeting of BIMSTEC home secretaries.
Gurung is also expected to hold bilateral meetings with his counterparts on the sidelines of the event, including Indian Home Minister Amit Shah, according to Nepali officials.
The visit comes as BIMSTEC members seek to strengthen regional cooperation on security matters and build on discussions held among senior security and home officials of the member states.
Anil Giri is a Chief Sub Editor covering diplomacy, international relations and national politics for The Kathmandu Post. Giri has been working as a journalist for more than two decades, contributing to numerous national and international media outlets.
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