Dhaka, Feb. 10 -- Indian External Affairs Minister Dr S Jaishankar has said India hosts the BIMSTEC Centre for Weather and Climate near Delhi and efforts are underway to set up a BIMSTEC Energy Centre near Bengaluru.

In his keynote address at the 7th Indian Ocean Conference 2024 in Perth, Australia on February 9, he said BIMSTEC is an important regional forum covering the Bay of Bengal.

"For India, it is a convergence of our "Neighbourhood First" policy, or "Act East" outlook and the Indian Ocean interests," he said.

The Indian Minister said India is the lead country for the Security pillar of BIMSTEC, which covers counter-terrorism and transnational crime, disaster management and energy security.

"We have been organizing events and a...