PM to attend virtual summit of BIMSTEC

Contact Counsellor

Last Updated27/03/2022

Prime Minister will attend a virtual summit of the seven-nation BIMSTEC grouping on March 30.
It is expected to focus on expanding economic engagement among its member countries.
It is being hosted by Sri Lanka in its capacity as the chair of the BIMSTEC.

Its full form is Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation.
It is a regional multilateral organisation.
It came into being in 1997 through the Bangkok Declaration.
Its members are are five Southasian nations: Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Nepal, Sri Lanka and two southeast Asian nations: Myanmar and Thailand.

Members nations cooperate in areas such as 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 and Climate Change.

Technological and economical cooperation among South Asian and South East Asian countries along the coast of the Bay of Bengal.
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.

With the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) becoming dysfunctional due to disputes between India and Pakistan, it gives a fresh platform for India to engage with its neighbours.
BIMSTEC enables India to pursue three core policies: Neighbourhood First – giving priority to the country's immediate neighbours; Act East – connecting India to Southeast Asia; and Economic Development of India's Northeastern States – by connecting them to the Bay of Bengal region via Bangladesh and Myanmar.
Allows India to offset China's growing influence in the Bay of Bengal region as a result of the One Belt and One Road Initiative's growth.

BIMSTEC Summit: highest policy-making body in the BIMSTEC process, and it is composed of the leaders of state and government of member countries.
Ministerial Meeting: BIMSTEC's second highest policy-making body, attended by Member States' External/Foreign Ministers.
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 : two important forums to ensure active participation of the private sector.

Neglect by member states as they are more focussed on ASEAN and SAARC
Bilateral Issues between Member Nations like the one between Myanmar and Bangladesh on Rohingya crisis
No Free Trade Agreement among member countries

As the BIMSTEC region is known for its diversity, member nations must capitalise on regional synergies and collaborate to make the most use of the available resources.
This would facilitate the creation of a more powerful and active BIMSTEC.