BIMSTEC

The Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC) is a multilateral regional organisation established with the aim of accelerating shared growth and cooperation between littoral and adjacent countries in the Bay of Bengal region. It is interregional organisation connecting South Asia and Southeast Asia. It has 7 member countries in total – Five are from South Asia, namely India, Bangladesh, Nepal, Bhutan, Srilanka and 2 are from Southeast Asia , namely Myanmar and Thailand.

It was founded on 6th June 1997 as BIST-EC (Bangladesh, India, Sri-Lanka and Thailand Economic Cooperation) with the adoption of Bangkok declaration. It became BIMST-EC (Bangladesh, India, Myanmar, Sri Lanka and Thailand Economic Cooperation) with the entry of Myanmar on 22nd December 1997. Nepal entered as Observer country in December, 1998. And later on , it was named in its current form when Nepal and Bhutan became members in 2004. BIMSTEC headquarters is located in Dhaka , Bangladesh. Its principle is to maintain sovereign equality, territorial integrity, political independence, no interference in internal affairs , peaceful coexistence and mutual beliefs. It is an addition not substitute to any existing bilateral , multilateral or regional ties.

It is a sector driven organization. Each member-countries serve as a lead for a sector : trade,investment and development (Bangladesh ); Environment and climate change (Bhutan); Security,including counter terrorism,tourism,transport and communication (India); agriculture and food Security (Myanmar); people-to-people contacts (Nepal); science,technology and innovation (SriLanka) ; and connectivity (Thailand).

In terms of connectivity, Bimstec has  three major projects that could transform the movement of goods and vehicles through the countries in the grouping.
1. Kaladan Multimodal Project – It seeks to link India and Myanmar. The project envisages connecting Kolkata to Sittwe port in Myanmar, and then Mizoram by river and road. India and Myanmar had signed a framework agreement in 2008 for the implementation of this project. It’s yet to be finished.
2.  Asian Trilateral Highway – It will connect  India and Thailand through Myanmar. The highway will run from Moreh in Manipur to Mae Sot in Thailand via Myanmar. It is expected to be completed by 2023.
3. Bangladesh-Bhutan-India-Nepal (BBIN) Motor Vehicles Agreement – the agreement was signed on 15th June 2015 for seamless movement of goods and vehicles.The BBIN project suffered a setback in 2017 when Bhutan temporarily opted out of it after being unable to get parliamentary approval for the

There are some issues hampering the progressive development of BIMSTEC :
1. Lack of cordial bilateral relations between its member states. Eg., India-Nepal, India-Sri Lanka, and Bangladesh-Myanmar ties are not good, due to political, economic, and social reasons.
2. Uncertainties over SAARC impact the development of BIMSTEC. Eg., BIMSTEC members Nepal and Sri Lanka want a revival of the SAARC summit.
3. Thegrowing influence of China in South Asia. Eg., popular Bangladeshi scholar supported admitting China as a partner in BIMSTEC. However, India will not welcome this idea.
4. Apathy towards holding regular annual summits. Eg., while most of the regional organisation (SCO, ASEAN, G20) were able to meet at a high political level even during the Pandemic, BIMSTEC leaders failed to meet.

the 5th BIMSTEC summit was hosted by Srilanka in hybrid mode on 30th March,2022. Our Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced a contribution of $1 million towards BIMSTEC’s operational costs and another $3 million to revive the organization’s center for weather and forecast at Noida, India. He stressed the need to give priority to regional security.

In the 25 years of its existence BIMSTEC hasn’t achieved much. That could be changing now with India’s heightened interest in the grouping, as a vehicle for the achievement of its strategic interests.

Source : The Hindu , The Diplomat