Key points
- J P Nadda told the first BIMSTEC health ministers' meeting that India is ready to share its expertise with the six other members.
- India will host the BIMSTEC Centre of Excellence in Traditional Medicine at Jamnagar, Gujarat.
- Sri Lanka's Health Minister Nalinda Jayatissa was elected chair of the meeting; no formal agreement has been reported.
Union Health Minister J P Nadda said in Colombo on Wednesday that India will host the BIMSTEC Centre of Excellence in Traditional Medicine at Jamnagar in Gujarat, as he addressed the first health ministers’ meeting in the Bay of Bengal bloc’s history.
Nadda told ministers from the seven member states that India stood ready to share its expertise and best practices with the others. The members are Sri Lanka, India, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Nepal, Myanmar and Thailand. The meeting was held at a Colombo hotel and Sri Lanka’s Health Minister, Nalinda Jayatissa, was elected its chair.
What Nadda said
In posts on X and in the Indian High Commission’s account of the session, Nadda said India reaffirmed its commitment to “building a healthier, safer and more resilient Bay of Bengal region”. He described India’s progress toward universal health coverage through Ayushman Bharat, improvements in public health infrastructure and digital tools such as the eSanjeevani telemedicine service.
He asked members to work more closely on health security, pandemic preparedness, One Health and traditional medicine. One Health is the approach that treats the health of people, animals and the environment as linked. He tied the offer to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s “Neighbourhood First” and “Act East” policies and to the Prime Minister’s “One Earth, One Family, One Future” formulation.
The Jamnagar centre is meant for joint research, capacity building and knowledge exchange among members, according to the Health Ministry. No budget, timetable or staffing for it was given in the material released so far.
The chair
Sri Lanka’s Government Information Department said Jayatissa was chosen to chair the meeting, and a Sri Lankan Health Ministry statement said the election “places Sri Lanka in a key position to guide discussions”. He chaired the World Health Organization’s South-East Asia Regional Committee at its 78th session in Colombo in October 2025, and was elected Vice Chair of the Fifth Asia-Pacific Ministerial Conference in Bangkok in October 2026.
The agenda covers public health security, infectious disease control, emergency preparedness and response, and the exchange of healthcare technology and expertise. A fuller list set out before the meeting included communicable diseases and pandemics, disease surveillance, health system resilience, digital healthcare, medical research, antimicrobial resistance and climate change and health.
How the meeting came together
Nadda arrived in Colombo on Tuesday, November 10, and was received by India’s High Commissioner to Sri Lanka, Santosh Jha. Before leaving he said he looked forward to “engaging with my counterparts from BIMSTEC member nations”. A BIMSTEC Senior Officials’ Meeting on Health opened in Colombo the same day to prepare the ministerial, looking at common regional health challenges and the sharing of technical expertise. The Health Ministry called the visit an important step for regional collaboration and for India-Sri Lanka health ties.
The ministerial follows India’s hosting of the bloc’s first meeting of home ministers in Delhi, where members adopted a declaration on terror, drugs and trafficking. See our report on the Delhi meeting.
Why it matters
For India, the meeting is a chance to present its public health model, from insurance cover under Ayushman Bharat to telemedicine, to neighbours that share the Bay of Bengal coastline. The traditional medicine centre gives New Delhi an institution in the region on a field it has promoted, with Jamnagar as the site.
For the smaller members, the value will lie in what is concrete: training, research links and surveillance cooperation. None of those has yet been spelled out in a formal text.
What happens next
As of 4 pm IST on Wednesday, no joint declaration, resolution or funding commitment from the Colombo meeting had been reported. Any outcome document adopted by the ministers, and the details of the Jamnagar centre, are the next things to watch.