On 4th September, 2020, the 12th Mekong Ganga Cooperation (MGC) Senior Officials Meeting took place virtually, The key areas of cooperation tourism, culture, education, transport and communications were discussed and reviewed during the meeting.
The meeting was attended by Senior Officials from all 6 MGC Member States (India, Cambodia, Lao PDR (People’s Democratic Republic), Myanmar, Thailand and Vietnam).
It was co-chaired by Vijay Thakur Singh, Secretary (East), Ministry of External Affairs and Mr. Sok Soken, Under Secretary of State, Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, Cambodia.
Key Points:
i.The meeting discussed the progress made on the MGC Plan of Action (2019-22), which was made during the 10th MGC Ministerial Meeting.
ii.The meeting discussed preparations for the 11th MGC Ministerial Meeting, to be held at the end of 2020.
iii.The progress made since the 10th MGC Ministerial Meeting held in Bangkok in August, 2019 in all areas of cooperation including tourism and culture, education, science and technology, traditional medicine and health, agriculture and allied sectors, water resources management, transportation and communication, and small and medium enterprises were reviewed.
About Mekong-Ganga Cooperation (MGC):
i.The MGC was launched in the year 2000 at Vientiane, Lao PDR.
ii.It is an initiative by six countries – India and Five ASEAN (Association of SouthEast Asian Nations) countries (Cambodia, Lao PDR, Myanmar, Thailand and Vietnam).
iii.The main areas of cooperation between MGC are tourism, culture, education, transport and communications.
iv.Ganges and Mekong are civilizational rivers, The MGC initiative aims to establish closer contacts among people living near the two major river basins.
v.The Mekong region is important for India’s ‘Act East Policy’ for economic integration with Southeast and East-Asian Countries.
Mekong & Ganges:
i.The Mekong is the largest river in SouthEast Asian Region and flows through six countries such as Vietnam, Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, Myanmar and China.
ii.The Ganges is a holy river in India and flows through the states of Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand, and West Bengal.
Recent Related News:
i.Indian officials, including representatives from enforcement agencies, participated in the 32nd special Eurasian Group on Combating Money Laundering and Financing of Terrorism (EAG) plenary meeting 2020, under the aegis of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF).
ii.Union Minister of Finance & Corporate Affairs, Nirmala Sitharaman attended the 5th Annual Meeting of Board of Governors of New Development Bank (NDB) through video-conference in New Delhi.
About Ministry of External Affairs:
Union Minister – Subrahmanyam Jaishankar
Minister of State – V. Muraleedharan
