BIMSTEC meeting

• The 15th ministerial meeting of the Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation concluded recently in Kathmandu, endorsing the memorandum of understanding for the establishment of BIMSTEC grid interconnection and also agreed to expedite the negotiations for BIMSTEC Free Trade Area Agreement.
• The meeting of the BIMSTEC also pledged to deepen cooperation for shared prosperity in the region. The meeting decided to establish cells focused on areas, like energy, environment and culture, among others, for effective cooperation and to elevate BIMSTEC as a vibrant and visible regional cooperation. The meeting also decided to form an eminent persons’ group to prepare the future roadmap of BIMSTEC.

What’s BIMSTEC

• Though BIMSTEC is a Bay of Bengal camp, two land-locked states -- Nepal and Bhutan -- are also part of the seven member-group. Five of them are from South Asia -- India, Bangladesh, Nepal, Bhutan, Sri Lanka -- and two from South East Asia -- Myanmar and Thailand.

What this grouping means in numbers

• The BIMSTEC region is home to around 1.5 billion people which constitute around 22% of the global population. The region has a combined gross domestic product (GDP) of $2.7 trillion. In the last five years, BIMSTEC member states have been able to sustain an average 6.5% economic growth trajectory despite global financial meltdown.

What is India’s interest in the grouping

• The BIMSTEC is a bridge between South Asia and Southeast Asia. The two Southeast Asian countries in the grouping, Myanmar and Thailand, have a crucial place for India’s ambitious connectivity plans for northeastern region. Myanmar is only Southeast Asian country India has a land boundary with. An India-Myanmar-Thailand highway is one of the key projects that figures in a big way in the government’s Act East (earlier Look East) policy. With the India-Pakistan bickering coming in way of a smooth functioning of the Saarc, groupings such as BIMSTEC can take forward the concept of regional cooperation in a different manner.

What are the founding principles of the BIMSTEC

• The cooperation within BIMSTEC will be based on respect for the principle of sovereign equality, territorial integrity, political independence, non-interference in internal affairs, peaceful co-existence and mutual benefit. This cooperation within BIMSTEC will constitute an addition to, and not be a substitute for, bilateral, regional or multilateral cooperation involving the member states.

What are the priority sectors of the BIMSTEC grouping

• Seven members of BIMSTEC cover 14 priority sectors. Each country leads one or more area in a voluntary manner. India leads two -- counter terrorism and transnational crime, telecommunication and transport. The other key sectors are trade and investment, technology, energy, tourism, fisheries, agriculture, cultural cooperation, environment and disaster management, public health, people-to-people contact, poverty alleviation, etc.

By: Vishal