Sushma Swaraj arrives in Kathmandu for BIMSTEC Summit

India's External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj landed here on 10 August to attend the 15th BIMSTEC Ministerial Summit to be held this evening.

The 15th ministerial meeting of the Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi- Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC) will be inaugurated at 6 p.m. local time at the Soaltee Hotel.

Before taking part in the ceremony, Swaraj will call on Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba at 4 p.m. (local time) and Nepal President Bidhya Devi Bhandari at 5 p.m.(local time), the Indian Mission in Nepal has informed.

"The following day (after the inauguration), the ministerial meeting will review the progress and achievements in the identified fourteen areas of cooperation and will discuss on the ways to accelerate the cooperation under the BIMSTEC process," a release from Nepal's Foreign Ministry said earlier.

The BIMSTEC is a sub-regional grouping comprising of seven countries of South Asia and South East Asia. These are: Bangladesh, India, Myanmar, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Bhutan and Nepal. Nepal is the current Chair. 

-ANI