{"id":50755,"date":"2025-08-07T18:49:13","date_gmt":"2025-08-07T13:19:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/?p=50755"},"modified":"2025-08-07T19:21:49","modified_gmt":"2025-08-07T13:51:49","slug":"first-bimstec-traditional-music-festival","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/current-affairs\/07-08-2025\/first-bimstec-traditional-music-festival","title":{"rendered":"First BIMSTEC Traditional Music Festival"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><strong>Syllabus: GS2\/Regional Groupings<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Context<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>The first BIMSTEC Traditional Music Festival<\/strong> was organised at New Delhi.\u00a0<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>About<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>It was organised by the<strong> Indian Council for Cultural Relations (ICCR)<\/strong>, the festival called <strong>\u2018SaptaSur: Seven Nations, One Melody\u2019<\/strong>, witnessed the celebration of the distinct musical traditions of the seven BIMSTEC countries.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>The Festival served as a <strong>vibrant platform<\/strong> to promote and celebrate the rich and diverse cultural heritage of the BIMSTEC region.\u00a0<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>The event brought together musicians<\/strong> from all the <strong>BIMSTEC countries<\/strong> &#8211; Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Myanmar, Nepal, Srilanka and Thailand.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>BIMSTEC<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>The Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC) <\/strong>is a grouping of <strong>seven Member States<\/strong> lying in the <strong>littoral and adjacent areas of the Bay of Bengal.<\/strong><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>The organization was formed in <strong>1997 <\/strong>with the signing of the <strong>Bangkok Declaration.<\/strong>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>It unites South and <strong>Southeast Asian nations bordering the Bay of Bengal.<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Founding Members (1997): <\/strong>Bangladesh, India, Sri Lanka, Thailand.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Current Members (7):<\/strong> Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Myanmar, Nepal, Sri Lanka, and Thailand.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Objective:<\/strong> To help countries in their economic growth, to support social development, and to encourage development in other areas, like science, technology and economic development.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>The BIMSTEC region brings together <strong>1.7 billion people<\/strong> &#8211; <strong>22%<\/strong> of world population with a combined GDP of <strong>US$ 5 trillion.<\/strong><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>BIMSTEC Secretariat: <\/strong>Dhaka, Bangladesh.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Significance of BIMSTEC for India<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Bridges South Asia and Southeast Asia: <\/strong>BIMSTEC connects India with Thailand and Myanmar (ASEAN) and the Bay of Bengal.\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Supports initiatives like the Kaladan Multi-Modal Transit Project and India\u2013Myanmar\u2013Thailand Trilateral Highway.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Counterbalance to China:<\/strong> Enhances India\u2019s regional influence and offers an alternative to China&#8217;s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI).<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Maritime Security:<\/strong> The Bay of Bengal is vital for India\u2019s naval strategy and energy trade routes.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Support for India\u2019s Northeast:<\/strong> Opens new avenues for development and integration of the Northeast region with regional markets.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Bay of Bengal as an Energy Hub: <\/strong>Scope for collaboration in oil and gas exploration, renewable energy, and the blue economy.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Shared Civilizational Links:<\/strong> Common cultural and religious heritage, particularly Buddhism.\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Easier regional travel, promotion of Buddhist circuits and cultural exchanges.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Alternative to SAARC:<\/strong> With SAARC stagnating due to Indo-Pak tensions, BIMSTEC serves as a more productive regional forum.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Conclusion<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>India\u2019s approach towards the Bay of Bengal countries and BIMSTEC is underpinned by a clear vision of<strong> regional integration and strategic autonomy.\u00a0<\/strong>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>The bay remains a <strong>keystone in India\u2019s Indo-Pacific strategy,<\/strong> with its economic and security imperatives demanding proactive engagement.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>The <strong>transformation of the Northeast<\/strong> underscores India\u2019s commitment to internal development as a foundation for external engagement.\u00a0<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>These interlinked policies have <strong>reinforced India\u2019s role as a key pillar<\/strong> in the rapidly emerging multipolar order across Asia and beyond, fostering <strong>long-term economic growth, security and diplomatic influence.<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Source: <\/strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.newsonair.gov.in\/first-bimstec-traditional-music-festival-held-in-new-delhi-today\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\"><strong>AIR<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<h3><strong>Context <\/strong><\/h2>\n<li class=\"ms-5\">The first BIMSTEC Traditional Music Festival was organised at New Delhi.\u00a0\n<\/li>\n<p><\/p>\n<h3><strong>About<\/strong><\/h3>\n<li class=\"ms-5\">It was organised by the Indian Council for Cultural Relations (ICCR), the festival called \u2018SaptaSur: Seven Nations, One Melody\u2019, witnessed the celebration of the distinct musical traditions of the seven BIMSTEC countries.\n<\/li>\n<li class=\"ms-5\">The Festival served as a vibrant platform to promote and celebrate the rich and diverse cultural heritage of the BIMSTEC region.\u00a0\n<\/li>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/current-affairs\/07-08-2025\/first-bimstec-traditional-music-festival\" class=\"btn btn-primary btn-sm float-end\">Read More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":15,"featured_media":50790,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[21],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-50755","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-current-affairs"],"acf":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/wp-images.nextias.com\/cdn-cgi\/image\/format=auto\/ca\/uploads\/2025\/08\/first-bimstec-traditional-music-festival.png","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/50755","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/15"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=50755"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/50755\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":50765,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/50755\/revisions\/50765"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/50790"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=50755"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=50755"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=50755"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}