At the official invitation of H.E. Mr. Saleumxay Kommasith, Deputy Prime
Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Lao People’s Democratic Republic,
the current Co-Chair of the Mekong-Ganga Cooperation (MGC), the Union
Minister for Foreign Affairs H.E. U Than Swe attended the 12th Mekong- Ganga
Cooperation Foreign Ministers’ Meeting (12th MGC FMM) held on 16 July 2023
in Bangkok, Thailand.
The meeting was co-chaired by H.E. Mr. Saleumxay Kommasith, Deputy
Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Lao People’s Democratic
Republic, and H.E. Dr. S. Jaishankar, Minister for External Affairs of the Republic
of India. The Foreign Ministers and representative from other Mekong-Ganga
Cooperation Member States i.e. H.E. Dr. Sok Siphana, Senior Advisor to the
Royal Government of Cambodia and H.E. Mr. Don Pramudwinai, Deputy Prime
Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Kingdom of Thailand attended the
meeting physically, and H.E. Mr. Bui Thanh Son, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the
Socialist Republic of Viet Nam also participated virtually.
The Ministers reviewed the progress of India-Myanmar-Thailand (IMT)
Trilateral Highway and discussed on the way forward. They also exchanged
views on cooperation and future direction of Mekong-Ganga Cooperation.
At the meeting, implementation of the Lead Country Mechanism for the
cooperation areas under MGC and the establishment of MGC Business Council
were approved. The Joint Ministerial Statement of the 12th MGC Foreign
Ministers’ Meeting was adopted by consensus as an outcome document of the
Ministerial Meeting.
Then, the Lao PDR handed over the Co-Chairmanship of Mekong-Ganga
Cooperation (MGC) to Myanmar. Myanmar and India will serve as Co-Chairs of
the Mekong-Ganga Cooperation (MGC).
Before the 12th MGC Foreign Ministers’ Meeting, H.E. Dr. S. Jaishankar,
Minister for External Affairs of India, the permanent Co-Chair of the Mekong-
Ganga Cooperation, hosted a welcome lunch in honor of the Heads of
Delegation of the MGC Member States.
The Mekong–Ganga Cooperation (MGC) is the regional cooperation
mechanism established in the year 2000 to further enhance socio-economic
development of the region. India and five Mekong countries: Cambodia, Lao
PDR, Myanmar, Thailand and Viet Nam are Members of the MGC.
Source: Facebook Page of Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Myanmar