KATHMANDU: The 17th BIMSTEC meeting of the foreign ministers, a virtual one, is taking place on Thursday.
According to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the meeting is likely to avoid discussing the brutal military suppression in Myanmar, despite calls to strongly raise the issue.
Pressure has been piling on Nepal also to speak up, but the government, after issuing a statement on the day of the coup, has maintained silence.
Foreign Minister Pradeep Gyawali said the agendas of the meeting have already been circulated and the meeting is going to finalize the text of the BIMSTEC Charter.
“We have strongly raised the ongoing repression in Myanmar at the United Nations Human Rights Council and made our position clear,” said Foreign Minister Gyawali. “But I do not think Myanmar’s domestic issue will figure in the upcoming ministerial meeting.”
Sri Lanka, which is hosting the virtual meeting, has already been under fire for inviting Myanmar. It has circulated the agendas of the meeting that incorporate finalizing the BIMSTEC Charter and fixing the date of the fifth summit.
Ever since the Myanmar military captured power on February 1, it has launched violent crackdowns on democracy protesters, leaving 500 dead so far.
On March 27, more than 90 democracy protesters were killed in one of the bloodiest days since the coup, which has drawn flaks from across the world.
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