BIMSTEC Charter presented to the House of Representatives

The charter has been submitted to the parliament according to the constitutional provision that treaties and agreements must be approved by the parliament. Then the proposal was discussed.

Nepal became a member of BIMSTEC in 2004, which was established in 1997. BIMSTEC has emerged as a dynamic bridge connecting South Asia and Southeast Asia. After the conflict with Pakistan, India has promoted BIMSTEC as a new regional mechanism to move forward at the regional level. But now neither BIMSTEC nor SAARC has been able to work. Since the 18th SAARC summit was held in Nepal in 2014, the summit, which should be held every two years, has not yet been held. Due to the conflict between India and Pakistan, the 19th SAARC summit that was supposed to be held in Islamabad has not been able to take place. During the

discussion, MP Yogesh Bhattarai, who is also the secretary of UML, said that BIMSTEC should be connected to the transport network and connectivity. He said that Nepal should increase its influence on the international stage through the platform of BIMSTEC. We have to link BIMSTEC to tourism promotion. Similarly, it will have to be promoted in the transport network and connectivity. No matter how much climate change Nepal is suffering in recent days, no matter how much international lobbying we should have done through this platform, we are not getting the success we should have. "Nepal will still have to present itself on the international stage through the platform of BIMSTEC," he said. I urge you to hold the SAARC conference as soon as possible.

Congress MP Pradeep Paudel said that Nepal has not benefited from BIMSTEC and other organizations. He argued that Nepal has not been able to use those organizations for policy leadership and strategy. We are not even able to lead such organizations. We are not able to lead policy. We are not even able to use it strategically. It has been seen that the VIPs have only participated for the visit," he suggested, "How can such platforms be used for the national interest? What is our strategy? How can the issues mentioned in the charter help to fulfill our national interest? Or how we can use it. Therefore, how many of our mechanisms in the foreign sector have been able to work actively in the national interest? How much work has the embassy been able to do? We seem to be absolute about that. It's not just the participants that matter. Devendra Poudel, MP of the Maoist Center, said that the need for BIMSTEC is for common commitment in areas such as education, health and employment. He argued that there is a need for BIMSTEC to move forward on issues such as mutual cooperation, environmental balance, common commitment to mutual issues, job creation, modernization in agriculture, moving forward together against international terrorism, and poverty eradication.

Parliamentarians also remembered the South Asian Regional Organization (SAARC) when discussing BIMSTEC. UML MP Raghuji Pant argued that India has advanced BIMSTEC to isolate Pakistan in SAARC. He said that Bangladesh, India, Bhutan, Thailand, Myanmar, Sri Lanka and Nepal are members of BIMSTEC and Pakistan, which is a member of SAARC, is a member of SAARC and wants to destroy SAARC and advance BIMSTEC. What should be kept in mind while promoting BIMSTEC, SAARC should also be promoted. We have to play an effective role in this," he said.

Rashtriya Janamorcha president and MP Chitra Bahadur KC said that BIMSTEC was moved to dissolve SAARC. Stating that BIMSTEC was formed to suppress the SAARC movement, he suggested that since SAARC is the most powerful organization in South Asia, it should be strengthened and promoted. Why was BIMSTEC born? Why SAARC was overshadowed? It was asked whether our foreign minister would provide any information. You finished talking about empty BIMSTEC, I was disappointed,' he said, 'SAARC is a powerful organization for us in South Asia.'

Responding to the questions of MPs, Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Shrestha said that Nepal did not accept BIMSTEC instead of SAARC. He said that BIMSTEC cannot replace SAARC. "Nepal's view and perception about the rationale and necessity of SAARC remains unchanged. BIMSTEC cannot replace SAARC. We did not accept it as BIMSTEC instead of SAARC. We do not take it as such. The importance of SAARC is in its place. I want to give confidence to the House that the government will make efforts to reactivate SAARC and organize its conference in a more effective manner," Foreign Minister Shrestha said. I want to make it clear that we will make all efforts to make SAARC active, to organize the conference and to advance the initiative and efforts.'