Nepal Home Minister Sudan Gurung Set to Visit India Next Week

Nepal Home Minister Sudhan Gurung is scheduled to travel to New Delhi on October 12 to participate in the first-ever BIMSTEC Home Ministers’ meeting, according to officials familiar with the visit. The meeting will take place on October 13 and will bring together Home Ministers from all seven BIMSTEC member countries.

The visit will mark Gurung’s first overseas trip since taking charge as Nepal’s Home Minister. Sources said India extended the invitation to Nepal through diplomatic channels last week. Officials from Nepal’s Home and Foreign Ministries confirmed that Gurung will attend the meeting, which is expected to focus on strengthening cooperation among law enforcement, intelligence and security agencies across the BIMSTEC region.

The Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC) comprises Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Myanmar, Nepal, Sri Lanka and Thailand. Gurung is also expected to meet his Indian counterpart during his visit to India. Such discussions could provide an opportunity for the two sides to review security cooperation and other issues of mutual interest.

The proposal for a BIMSTEC-level Home Ministers’ meeting was first agreed upon by the leaders at the Fourth BIMSTEC Summit in Kathmandu in 2018. The initiative was aimed at improving coordination between member states in areas such as counter-terrorism, transnational crime, intelligence sharing and regional security. The meeting is also expected to complement the BIMSTEC National Security Chiefs’ mechanism, which was established to deepen cooperation against emerging security challenges and cross-border criminal activities.

Disclaimer: This image is taken from ANI.