India hosted the Second Agriculture Ministerial-level meeting of the Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC) in New Delhi on November 10 under the chairmanship of the Union Minister for Agriculture and Farmers Welfare, Shri Narendra Singh Tomar.
Key points
- Agriculture ministers of Bhutan, Bangladesh, Nepal, Myanmar, Sri Lanka and Thailand participated in the meeting.
- While addressing the meeting through video conference, Shri Tomar urged the member countries to cooperate in developing a comprehensive regional strategy to strengthen cooperation for the transformation of agriculture.
- Referring to the importance of millet as a nutritious food and the efforts made by India to promote millet and its products during the International Year of Millets – 2023, he urged the member countries to adopt a conducive agricultural food system and a healthy diet for all.
- He asked participating countries to actively participate in India’s initiative to promote millet as a food. Shri Tomar said that natural and ecological farming should be promoted to conserve agricultural biodiversity and reduce the use of chemicals.
- The 2nd BIMSTEC Agriculture Ministerial Meeting adopted the Action Plan for Strengthening BIMSTEC Agricultural Cooperation (2023-2027).
About BIMSTEC
- BIMSTEC was established in the year 1997.
- It includes five countries of South Asia – Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Nepal, Sri Lanka and two countries of South-East Asia – Myanmar and Thailand.
