Key Takeaways:

• Home Minister Gurung attends BIMSTEC security meeting in New Delhi
• First official foreign visit since assuming office
• Nepal prioritises disaster risk reduction and early warning systems
• Meeting to endorse security documents and issue declaration

KATHMANDU, OCTOBER 12 Home Minister Sudan Gurung has left for New Delhi to attend a BIMSTEC ministerial meeting on internal security, marking his first official foreign visit since assuming office. According to the Home Ministry, Gurung departed Kathmandu at 1 p.m. and will address the meeting on Tuesday before returning on October 14. The gathering brings together security ministers from the seven BIMSTEC member states, Nepal, India, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Myanmar, Sri Lanka and Thailand, to discuss cooperation on drug and human trafficking, money laundering, terrorist financing, disaster safety and cybercrime. The meeting is expected to endorse security‑related documents approved by BIMSTEC mechanisms and issue a declaration. Nepal is prioritising disaster risk reduction, stronger early warning systems and regional cooperation in rescue and relief operations. The high‑level security mechanism, first conceived at the fourth BIMSTEC summit in 2018, is meeting in India for the first time. Gurung is also scheduled to hold bilateral meetings with his counterparts during the visit.