Kathmandu, October 6, 2026 (Yes Punjab News)
Nepal Home Minister Sudan Gurung is scheduled to visit New Delhi on October 12 to attend the first meeting of home ministers of the Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC) on October 13, a senior Nepalese official said.
The visit will be Gurung’s first foreign trip since he assumed office following the formation of Prime Minister Balendra Shah’s government on March 27.
The meeting will bring together home ministers from the seven BIMSTEC member states — Nepal, India, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Myanmar, Sri Lanka and Thailand — to discuss regional security cooperation.
“Home Minister Gurung is scheduled to travel to New Delhi on October 12 to participate in the first meeting of the BIMSTEC Home Ministers,” Nepal Home Ministry spokesperson Ananda Kafle said.
The discussions are expected to cover cross-border crime, drug trafficking and human trafficking, along with other security challenges affecting the region.
Kafle said Gurung’s detailed itinerary had not yet been finalised, including the possibility of meetings with Indian leaders. Nepali officials said the minister is also expected to hold bilateral discussions with counterparts on the sidelines of the meeting, including Indian Home Minister Amit Shah. A meeting with the Nepali diaspora in India is also being considered.
The ministerial meeting will be preceded by a gathering of BIMSTEC home secretaries, who will work on agreements and other documents expected to be adopted following the ministerial-level discussions.
Security cooperation is a key component of BIMSTEC’s regional agenda, with counterterrorism and transnational crime, energy and disaster management among its security-related areas.
At the fourth BIMSTEC Summit in Kathmandu in August 2018, leaders called for stronger coordination among law enforcement, intelligence and security agencies and decided to establish meetings at the level of home ministers.
The development follows the fifth BIMSTEC National Security Chiefs’ Meeting held in New Delhi in July, where member states discussed counterterrorism, organised crime, cyber and maritime security, energy security, connectivity, disaster management and emerging threats.
The meeting also adopted guidelines for the maritime component of humanitarian assistance and disaster relief and endorsed guiding principles for maritime law enforcement interactions at sea.
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