Indra Mani Pandey will be the first Indian official to hold the post of secretary general of the Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC).

Pandey, an Indian Foreign Service (IFS) officer of the 1990 batch, is currently the country’s permanent representative to the United Nations and other international organisations in Geneva.

A statement from the external affairs ministry on Friday said he will be the next secretary general of BIMSTEC.

“This is the first time that an Indian will hold the position of the secretary general of BIMSTEC,” the statement said.

Pandey will take up the assignment shortly.

BIMSTEC is a regional organisation established in June 1997. Its secretariat was established in the Bangladesh capital of Dhaka to provide an institutionalised framework for deepening and enhancing cooperation.

“India has attached a high importance to BIMSTEC with a view to expanding regional cooperation in the Bay of Bengal region. Having an Indian diplomat, with long experience in multilateral diplomacy, as secretary general of BIMSTEC will contribute to India’s endeavours in strengthening the grouping,” a person familiar with the matter said.

Cooperation within BIMSTEC initially focused on six sectors – trade, technology, energy, transport, tourism and fisheries – and this was expanded in 2008 to incorporate agriculture, public health, poverty alleviation, counter-terrorism, environment, culture, people-to-people contacts, and climate change.

The member states of BIMSTEC are Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Myanmar, Nepal, Sri Lanka and Thailand.