KATHMANDU: Sri Lanka has proposed organizing the fifth summit of the Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC) in January 2021.

Sources said that the island country wants to hold the event virtually if the coronavirus pandemic does not subside.

Nepal is a member of BIMSTEC. Other members include Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Myanmar, Sri Lanka and Thailand.

It may be noted that authorities of the seven-member states are holding meetings to finalize a date soon.

The summit which was previously scheduled for January 2020 was postponed amidst growing coronavirus fears.

The fourth BIMSTEC summit was held in Nepal’s capital Kathmandu in August 2017.