NEW DELHI, Aug 23: Thailand has postponed the forthcoming summit of the sub-regional BIMSTEC bloc, citing a lack of readiness due to the new government formation.
Indian official sources confirmed the summit, which was supposed to have been held on September 3-4, has been postponed. The BIMSTEC has seven countries as members, Bangladesh, India, Myanmar, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Bhutan, and Nepal.
Earlier, Thai media had reported that the decision had been taken today after a meeting between Prime Minister Paetongthan Shinawatra and the caretaker foreign minister Maris Sagiamsongsa.
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While the event had been on schedule till Wednesday, the decision had to be taken “due to technical issues in forming the new Cabinet”, as per Thai PBS World TV channel.
After Thailand’s Constitutional Court removed Srettha Thavisin from the position of Prime Minister, the ruling Pheu Thai party selected Paetongtarn Shinawatra as his successor on August 14. Paetongtarn is the youngest daughter of former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra and the niece of former Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra.
The summit was also set to mark the first foreign visit of Bangladesh’s interim head of government, Nobel laureate Mohammad Yunus. A bilateral meeting between the Indian Prime Minister and Yunus was expected to take place on the sidelines of the summit.
India has been advocating for the BIMSTEC group as a model regional body, particularly since SAARC went into a deep freeze due to India-Pakistan tensions.
Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli was expected to attend the summit. However, recent political upheaval in Thailand led to a ruling by the Constitutional Court, which dismissed Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin for ethical violations related to a ministerial appointment. Shinawatra has since been elected as the new prime minister.
