BIMSTEC – South Asia

• The Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC) was established in the 1997 Bangkok Declaration with a secretariat in Dhaka.
• Its members lie in the littoral and adjacent areas of the Bay of Bengal constituting a contiguous regional unity.
• 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.

BIMSTEC Member Countries

• Bangladesh, India, Myanmar, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Nepal and Bhutan (No Maldives, Afghanistan, Pakistan)
• The BIMSTEC countries are home to a population of around 1.5 billion, approximately 21% of global population, with a cumulative GDP of US$ 2.5 trillion. The annual GDP growth rate has averaged around 6 %.

• The BIMSTEC Permanent Secretariat Dhaka was opened in 2014 and India contributes 33% of its expenditure.
• The current Secretary General of the BIMSTEC is Ambassador Mohammad Shahidul Islam from Bangladesh and the former Secretary General was Sumith Nakandala from Sri Lanka.
• The Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation uses the alphabetical order for the Chairmanship. The Chairmanship of the BIMSTEC has been taken in rotation commencing with Bangladesh (1997–1999).

Objective

• Technical and economic cooperation among members.
• 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.
• Act as a bridge between South and South East Asia and represents a reinforcement of relations among these countries

various BIMSTEC Centres?

• BIMSTEC Energy Centre (BEC) – It is to be housed in the premises of the Central Power Research Institute in Bengaluru, India.
• It will also function as the Secretariat of the BIMSTEC Grid Interconnection Coordination Committee.
• BIMSTEC Centre on Weather and Climate - It is located in the National Centre for Medium Range Weather Forecasting (NCMRWF) in Uttar Pradesh, India.
• BIMSTEC Cultural Industries Observatory – In 2006, it was proposed for the establishment of BIMSTEC Cultural Industries Commission (BCIC) and the BIMTEC Cultural Industries Observatory (BCIO) in Bhutan.
• BIMSTEC Technology Transfer Facility – The Memorandum of Association (MoA) on the establishment was signed in 2022 during the 5^th BIMSTEC Summit but its entry into force is awaited.

What are the shortcomings?

• It has decided not to go-ahead with the BIMSTEC Development Fund.
• Negotiation of the BIMSTEC FTA is yet to be completed.
• BIMSTEC grid connectivity and energy projects are yet to take off.

• While the connectivity plan is ready, the real implementation is yet to start.
• The postponement of the 6th Summit has slowed BIMSTEC integration.

What lies ahead?

• 6^th BIMSTEC summit under the chairmanship of Thailand will be held in 2024 with promising features like
  • Adoption of the BIMSTEC Rules of Procedure
  • Adoption of the BIMSTEC Maritime Cooperation Agreement (BMCA)
  • Launching of BIMSTEC Bangkok Vision 2030

Bangladesh is going to take over the chairmanship of BIMSTEC from Thailand once the 6th Summit is over.

• Importance for India:
  • BIMSTEC not only connects South and Southeast Asia but also encompasses the ecologies of the Great Himalayas and the Bay of Bengal.
  • India sees BIMSTEC as a natural platform to prioritize its foreign policy objectives of "Neighborhood First" and "Act East."
    • The significance of BIMSTEC was highlighted when some of its member countries supported India's call for a boycott of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC)summit in Islamabad, leading to its postponement.
    • India claimed victory in isolating Pakistan through this move.
• Crucial Against Assertive China:
  • The Bay of Bengal is crucial for an increasingly assertive China in maintaining its access route to the Indian Ocean.
    • As China has undertaken a massive drive to finance and build infrastructure in South and Southeast Asia through the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) in almost all BIMSTEC countries, except Bhutan and India, BIMSTEC is a new battleground in the India-China battle for dominance.
  • BIMSTEC can allow India to push a constructive agenda to counter Chinese investments, and instead follow best practices for connectivity projects based on recognised international norms.
    • The Chinese projects are widely seen as violating these norms.
• Preserve Peace and Freedom of Navigation:
  • The Bay of Bengal can be showcased as open and peaceful, contrasting it with China’s behavior in the South China Sea.
  • It can develop codes of conduct that preserve freedom of navigation and apply existing law of the seas regionally.
  • Moreover, BIMSTEC can stem the region’s creeping militarisation by instituting, for instance, a Bay of Bengal Zone of Peace that seeks to limit any bellicose behavior of extraregional power.