Context: This week's episode of  India's World analyses how BIMSTEC has evolved through its journey since 1997, its growing significance in India’s foreign policy, and what would be required going forward to further build the momentum of regional cooperation between members of the grouping, which marks its silver jubilee next year.
Recently, 17th Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC) Ministerial Meeting.

• The meeting, chaired by Sri Lanka, was held in virtual mode.

Key Points
India’s Stand at the Meeting

• India’s Commitment: To further build the momentum of regional cooperation under the BIMSTEC framework and make the organization stronger, vibrant, more effective and result-oriented.
• Progress: Highlighted progress achieved in sectors where India is the Lead Country viz Counter Terrorism & Trans-national Crime, Transport & Communication, Tourism, and Environmental & Disaster management and other activities.
• Importance of Connectivity: Robust connectivity is an essential prerequisite for economic integration of the region with smooth cross-border movement of people and goods.

Outcome of the Meeting

• The meeting endorsed the BIMSTEC Master Plan for Transport Connectivity for adoption at the next BIMSTEC Summit, which will be held in Sri Lanka.
• India’s northeastern states form a key part of the master plan, with several road and river links passing through the region.
• Called for early adoption of the BIMSTEC Charter.
• The meeting also endorsed three MoUs/agreements relating to convention on Mutual Legal Assistance in Criminal matters, cooperation between diplomatic and training academies and establishment of BIMSTEC Technology Transfer Facility in Colombo (Sri Lanka).
• Took note that the BIMSTEC Centre for Weather and Climate, being hosted in India, is fully functional with state of the art facilities to provide Disaster Early Warnings.

Concern

• Cohesion among the members has been difficult to achieve mainly because of the Rohingya refugee crisis which created bitterness between Myanmar and Bangladesh.
• This affected the working of the organisation to some extent as it could not develop a common charter.

What is BIMSTEC?
The Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC) is a regional multilateral organisation.

• Its members lie in the littoral and adjacent areas of the Bay of Bengal constituting a contiguous regional unity.

Out of the 7 members,

• Five are from South Asia: Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Nepal and Sri Lanka
• Two are from Southeast Asia: Myanmar and Thailand

BIMSTEC not only connects South and Southeast Asia, but also the ecologies of the Great Himalayas and the Bay of Bengal.

• It mainly aims to create an enabling environment for rapid economic development; accelerate social progress; and promote collaboration on matters of common interest in the region.

Genesis of BIMSTEC

• This sub-regional organization came into being in 1997 through the Bangkok Declaration.
• Initially, it was formed with four Member States with the acronym ‘BIST-EC’ (Bangladesh, India, Sri-Lanka and Thailand Economic Cooperation).
• It became renamed ‘BIMST-EC’ in 1997, following the inclusion of Myanmar.
• With the admission of Nepal and Bhutan in 2004, the name of the grouping was changed to ‘Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation’ (BIMSTEC).

Objectives

• Creating an enabling environment for the rapid economic development of the sub-region.
• Encouraging the spirit of equality and partnership.
• Promoting active collaboration and mutual assistance in the areas of common interests of the member countries
• Accelerating support for each other in the fields of education, science, and technology, etc.

Principles of BIMSTEC

• Sovereign Equality
• Territorial Integrity
• Political Independence
• No-interference in Internal Affairs
• Peaceful Co- existence
• Mutual Benefit
• Constitute an addition to and not be a substitute for bilateral, regional or multilateral cooperation involving the Member States.

Potential

• Bridge between South and South East Asia and represents a reinforcement of relations among these countries.
• Platform for intra-regional cooperation between SAARC and ASEAN members.
• Home to around 1.5 billion people that constitute around 22% of the global population.
• With a combined gross domestic product (GDP) of 2.7 trillion economy, BIMSTEC Member States have been able to sustain an average 6.5% economic growth trajectory in the last five years.

A fourth of the world’s traded goods cross the bay every year.
Important Connectivity Projects

1. Kaladan Multimodal Project – links India and Myanmar.
2. Asian Trilateral Highway - connecting India and Thailand through Myanmar.
3. Bangladesh-Bhutan-India-Nepal (BBIN) Motor Vehicles Agreement - for seamless flow of passenger and cargo traffic.

Significance for India

Allows India to pursue three core policies

• Neighborhood First - primacy to the country’s immediate periphery;
• Act East - connect India with Southeast Asia; and
• Economic development of India’s northeastern states – by linking them to the Bay of Bengal region via Bangladesh and Myanmar.

Allows India to counter China’s creeping influence in countries around the Bay of Bengal due to the spread of its Belt and Road Initiative.

• A new platform for India to engage with its neighbors with South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) becoming dysfunctional because of differences between India and Pakistan.

Areas of Cooperation: Trade and Investment; Technology; Energy; Transportation and Communication; Tourism; Fisheries; Agriculture; Cultural Cooperation; Environment and Disaster Management; Public Health; People-to-People Contact; Poverty Alleviation; Counter Terrorism and Transnational Crime; Climate Change

Institutional Mechanisms
BIMSTEC Summit – highest policymaking body in BIMSTEC process and is comprised of heads of state/government of member states.
Ministerial Meeting – second apex policy-making forum of BIMSTEC attended by the External/Foreign Ministers of Member States.
Senior Officials’ Meeting – represented by Senior Officials of Foreign Ministries of the Member States.
BIMSTEC Working Group – attended by Ambassadors of BIMSTEC Member Countries to Bangladesh or their representatives on a monthly basis at the BIMSTEC Secretariat in Dhaka.
Business Forum & Economic Forum – the two important forums to ensure active participation of private sector.
Challenges

Though largely devoid of bilateral tensions, as is the case in SAARC, BIMSTEC does not seem to have made much progress.

• Inconsistency in Meetings: BIMSTEC planned to hold summits every two years, ministerial meetings every year, but only four summits have taken place in 20 years upto 2018.
• Neglect by member states: It seems that India has used BIMSTEC only when it fails to work through SAARC in the regional setting and other major members like Thailand and Myanmar are focused more towards ASEAN than BIMSTEC.
• Broad Focus Areas: The focus of BIMSTEC is very wide, including 14 areas of cooperation like connectivity, public health, agriculture etc. It is suggested that BIMSTEC should remain committed to small focus areas and cooperate in them efficiently.
• Bilateral Issues between Member Nations: Bangladesh is facing one of the worst refugee crisis of Rohingyas from Myanmar who are fleeing prosecution in the state of Rakhine in Myanmar. There is a border conflict between Myanmar and Thailand.
• No FTA: BIMSTEC FTA was negotiated in 2004, talks on it are yet to be concluded.
• BCIM: The formation of another sub-regional initiative, the Bangladesh-China-India-Myanmar (BCIM) Forum, with the proactive membership of China, has created more doubts about the exclusive potential of BIMSTEC.

Road Ahead

• BIMSTEC has indeed over the years emerged as a promising sub-regional grouping with growing strategic and economic interests not just of the member states but also of the international community in the Bay of Bengal region but there are several factors which are impeding role and there is now need to make the organisation more focused and more result oriented.
• Since the BIMSTEC region is notable for its diversity, the member states need to build on the regional synergies and work towards utilising the available resources in the most optimal manner. This would help build a stronger and a more dynamic BIMSTEC.