STRENGTHENING BIMSTEC

 The Bay of Bengal Initiative for  Multisectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC) is a regional multilateral organization comprising of 7 member countries,  five  from South Asia- Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Nepal, Srilanka and two from South East Asia namely Myanmar and Thailand. Together they account for estimated 1.5 billion population 3.8  trillion or 22% of global GDP. Established at the outcome of 1997 Bangkok Declaration, (Intially with Bangladesh India, Srilanka and   Thailand  Economic  cooperation, in 1997 and with the inclusion of Myanmar became BIMSTEC and in  2004 two members Nepal and Bhutan were added  it resulted in present full fledged Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multisectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation. The main objective of BIMSTEC is creating an enabling environment for the rapid economic development of the region by encouraging the spirit of  equality and partnership. Promoting to achieve collaboration and mutual assistance in the areas of common interests of member countries . Accelerating the support for each other in the fields of education, science and technology etc.Basic principles of BIMSTEC are -Sovereign equality, Territorial integrity, Political non interference in internal affairs, Peaceful Coexistence and Mutual benefit which constitute an addition to bilateral, regional and multilateral cooperation involving BIMSTEC member countries. The key areas of cooperation within BIMSTEC  are assigned and shared by countries as follows 1.Bangladesh: Trade Investment and Development 2.Bhutan : Environment and climate change, 3 India: Security, counter terrorism and Transnational crimes, Disaster Management and Energy,4.Myanmar: Agriculture and food security,Agriculture Fisheries and livestock,5.Nepal: people to people contact. Culture  tourism forums of think tanks, media etc 6.Srilanka : Science Technology and innovation, Health,Human resource development  7.Thailand : connectivity. BIMSTEC is expected to provide India direct connectivity with South East Asia via our North Eastern region and Myanmar.

 The  fifth BIMSTEC summit was held in Colombo under virtual mode on 30th March 2022.Summit theme was "towards a resilient region, prosperous economies  healthy people ".Major outcome of the summit was the signing and adoption of the BIMSTEC charter which formalized the grouping into an organization made up of member states that are dependent on Bay of Bengal. In a significant move on 20th May 2024 BIMSTEC's new charter came into force  which among other things enables entry of new members in the grouping. The Charter articulates the long-term vision and priorities of the member states establishing the legal and institutional framework for cooperation of the region.Charter among other things confers legal personality for the organization enables admissions of new members and observers and enables members to cooperate and promote subregional, regional and international organizations and institutions The seven countries of BIMSTEC not only connects South and South East Asia but also the ecological  regions of Bay of Bengal and the great Himalayas .The adoption and enforcement of the new Charter shared commitment of the member states to promote regional cooperation in key sectors like security, connectivity,trade,agriculture, environment,science and technology and people to people contact.. 

India should develop a strategy to leverage its soft power in South, East and South East Asia.The greatest advantage perceived was the benefit of neighborhood first .Connecting India with South East Asia is expected to accelerate economic development of India's North Eastern Region by linking them to the Bay of Bengal region via Bangladesh and Myanmar which has been the cherished dream for some time now. The working of BIMSTEC arrangement so far showed that the intra-regional trade and investment is far behind our expectations.Poor intra -regional connectivity is a major handicap to BIMSTEC. Infrastructure investment gap is another lacuna estimated to be  around  $ 120 billion annually. However physical connectivity has improved and volume of intra-regional trade of late has been gathering momentum. Digital connectivity and people to people connectivity is the biggest challenges for 21st century. Bhutan and Nepal possess tremendous hydro power potential that exceeds their domestic requirements,which opens an ample opportunity to  meet India's rising energy needs.However China is trying to exploit it,and it has launched massive infrastructure projects in South and  South East Asia under Belt and Road Initiative. Another problem is growing discord between Bangladesh and Myanmar regarding the dispute about large number of Rohingya refugees that entered into Bangladesh.However experts pointed out that the lack of development finance for BIMSTEC continues to be a major handicap. They further observed that it can be effectively tackled by approaching rigorously multilateral institutions like  Asian Development Bank (ADB) and friendly countries including USA and Japan.BIMSTEC can also collaborate with Private financial institutions and mutually beneficial cross border institutions. Regional trade within the group should result in more trade creation rather than trade diversion. BIMSTEC should be able to effectively tackle issues like supply chain disruptions, global economic fallout, accumulation of debt, inflationary tendencies energy and food security and climate change. In short due to political expediency BIMSTEC is a natural choice for strengthening India's footprints in the neighborhood under Look East policy. More and more smaller countries are evincing  interest to join the grouping. Obviously BIMSTEC should work towards promoting trade facilitation, reducing barriers and promoting economic integration among members. It should explore possibilities for a effective Free Trade Agreement (FTA)to boost both trade and investment in the region.