6th BIMSTEC summit in Thailand will not be impacted: Secy East Jaideep Mazumdar after earthquakes in Thailand, Myanmar

New Delhi [India], March 28 : During a special briefing on Prime Minister Narendra Modi's upcoming visit to Thailand and Sri Lanka, Secretary East Jaideep Mazumdar on Friday said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi will attend the upcoming 6th BIMSTEC summit in Thailand beginning April 3, with the earthquake in the region not expected to impact it.
Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri further said that India is contacting Myanmar authorities to assess the assistance needed there.
"Now regarding the earthquake and its impact on the summit, I will just say that we are in touch with the authorities in Bangkok on this. There's nothing at the moment to indicate either way whether it is going to have any effect on the summit," he said.
PM Modi will visit Thailand's capital city, Bangkok, from April 3 to 4 at the invitation of Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra to attend the 6th BIMSTEC Summit.
Mazumdar said that India conducts disaster relief exercises, which are useful for interoperability within countries. As a result, India is able to execute disaster relief operations much better.
"As far as relief is concerned, I will see to Foreign Secretary on that subject. Regarding the disaster relief mechanism, it is not really a mechanism. It is capacity building at the moment, so we are undertaking disaster relief exercises. So, these are extremely useful for interoperability within countries. So because of the Exchanges we have had on this amongst BIMSTEC countries, we are able to plan and execute disaster relief operations much better because there's far better understanding between the disaster management authorities of different countries. So this will no doubt have a big impact as we go forward in addressing this particular disaster," he said.
Misri said that Indian officials are assessing the damage particularly in Myanmar and will send relief accordingly.
"So just to take forward the part of the question related to the aftermath of the terrible earthquake that has struck today in Myanmar and Thailand, insofar as relief and assistance is concerned, we are currently analysing the reports related to damage primarily in Myanmar, we are in touch with the official authorities in Myanmar and are also looking at the exact requirements in terms of the assistance and relief material that might be required," he said.
Misri added that India has always been one of the first countries to respond when such tragedies struck anywhere in the region.
"India has always been a first responder, especially in its neighbourhood, whenever these kinds of natural disasters have taken place. I would imagine that by later today, we'll have a further update on the responses that we will be mounting with regard to this particular situation, so we'll come back on that particular issue," he said.
A passenger coming from Bangkok told ANI, "We were shopping and it was a very strong earthquake...There was chaos at the airport...Thankfully, we are safe...Many under-construction buildings have collapsed."
Another passenger told ANI, "We were just leaving the airport, and I have just landed in India. By God's grace, I am here. At the airport, everything was normal."
The NCS said that the earthquake was triggered by the causative Sagaing fault of 1,200 km east of the Indo-Burma subduction zone.
https://x.com/NCS_Earthquake/status/1905590488453026248
https://x.com/NCS_Earthquake/status/1905590490944381065
https://x.com/NCS_Earthquake/status/1905590493402333582
"Today's Myanmar Earthquake of M: 7.5 occured at 11:50:52 IST in Mandalay. This earthquake was triggered by the causative Sagaing fault of 1200 km east of the Indo-Burma subduction zone. The rupture direction is towards Bangkok, Thailand, causing severe damage to structures in the region due to liquefactions and matching of earthquake shaking frequency with the spectral frequency of the structures. Aftershock of M: 7.0 occured within 12 minutes about 90 Km SW of the mainshock. A total of 6 aftershocks of different magnitude range M: 4.0 to M: 7.0 were reported till 17:20 IST. NE India also felt this transboundary earthquake and its aftershocks. The region has history of M:7 and above EQs in 1956 (M 7.2) and in 1912 (M 7.5)," NCS said on X.
The seventh earthquake of the day occurred in Myanmar at a depth of 35km, with a magnitude of 4.3 on the Richter Scale.
https://x.com/NCS_Earthquake/status/1905599995006648821
"EQ of M: 4.3, On: 28/03/2025 17:52:05 IST, Lat: 22.09 N, Long: 95.36 E, Depth: 35 Km, Location: Myanmar," NCS stated.