India Hosts the First BIMSTEC Home Ministers' Meeting; Delhi Declaration Adopted

13 October 2026National

India hosted the first-ever BIMSTEC Home Ministers' Meeting in New Delhi on 13 October 2026, chaired by Union Home Minister Amit Shah and organised by the Ministry of Home Affairs. Members unanimously adopted the Delhi Declaration and approved five initiatives: a BIMSTEC Convention against Trafficking in Persons, a Plan of Action on Drug Control, an MoU on capacity building against money laundering and terror financing, an Action Plan on illicit financial flows, and an Action Plan on Bay of Bengal disaster preparedness. Shah set out five priority areas and proposed a BIMSTEC disaster management centre at Jamnagar, Gujarat, restating India's 'Zero Tolerance' policy on terrorism.

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BIMSTEC was founded on 6 June 1997 by the Bangkok Declaration, originally as BIST-EC; members: Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Myanmar, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Thailand | Its permanent Secretariat at Dhaka opened in 2014 | The BIMSTEC Charter entered into force in May 2024; Thailand hosted the 6th Summit at Bangkok in April 2025

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