Can India make BIMSTEC work?

Clearly BIMSTEC is yet to capture the imagination of the people of nearly 1.6 billion people making up nearly 23% of the total world population it represents. Its visibility both within the member countries and outside has been rather limited. The holding of just four summits in over two decades speaks louder than any other statement would

The invitation to leaders of the Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC) for the second oath-taking ceremony of victorious Prime Minister Narendra Modi sent out a clear message to the neighbourhood and beyond - India’s conception of a friendly neighbourhood had changed.

BIMSTEC is important for India, for the region of South and Southeast Asia and India will pull out all the stops to make it an effective and robust organisation. As the Indo-Pacific assumes greater salience in Indian foreign policy and Indian stakes in this space grows, it will want to gather and consolidate all the available resources, with BIMSTEC being one such platform.

In the larger context of global developments in the Bay of Bengal and Indo-Pacific, a regional organisation that straddles this strategic geography can be very valuable for all member states. In a more immediate context and in the backdrop of the terror attacks in Sri Lanka, the threat perception in the region can be countered through a regional security architecture under the BIMSTEC umbrella, an aspiration that Colombo has voiced, about the need for regional countries to come together on an anti-terror platform.

Thus, in the words of Modi, there is vast scope in “realising the vast potential” of this region, not just on security, but physical and digital connectivity, cultural contacts and sustainable use of resources.” For India, the raison d’être to build an effective BIMSTEC matrix is manifold. This regional group is firstly, aptly poised to complement overall Indian foreign policy in its engagement with the south-eastern economies and, secondly, it also dovetails in its domestic policy of integrating the Northeast region, both with mainland India as well as with its extended neighbourhood. Thirdly, as Modi’s ‘Neighbourhood First’ and ‘Act East’ finds reverberation in the neighbourhood again, India is keen to drive a regional policy in the region, which has not experienced an effective regional initiative.

Evidently, SAARC is in cold storage and there are several regional issues coming to the forefront, which can seek realization through this regional forum. Fourthly, assuming leadership and providing a momentum to BIMSTEC not divided by any sharp political differences, is a realistic expectation premised on its promise of leading India’s growth story.

BIMSTEC boasts of two of the four fastest growing economies, Bangladesh and India. Comprising of three other South Asian states Bhutan, Nepal and Sri Lanka, and two Southeast Asian immediate neighbours in the region, Myanmar and Thailand, it is a unique regional initiative straddling two regions. For an organisation that brings together one of the most integrated regions with one of the least integrated regions, South Asia, its activities were limited to official meetings and some joint statements.

Clearly BIMSTEC is yet to capture the imagination of the people of nearly 1.6 billion people making up nearly 23% of the total world population it represents. Its visibility both within the member countries and outside has been rather limited. The holding of just four summits in over two decades speaks louder than any other statement would.

At this juncture, with BIMSTEC entering its 22nd year, it is possible to examine the status of this grouping. The group was formed in 1997 but remained moribund till India infused fresh life into it when it invited the heads of member states for an outreach during the BRICS summit in Goa in 2016. As ‘Reinvigorating BIMSTEC’, a FICCI report identified, the need was to create regional value chains that could feed into global value chains, enabling BIMSTEC members to take advantage of their collective capabilities. It also suggested a multimodal connectivity and a speedy conclusion of the BIMSTEC FTA as a force multiplier. While it is relatively easy to focus on low-hanging fruits like these and people to people contacts, BIMSTEC has to move beyond safe and non-traditional areas to make this organisation stand up and count. Keeping regional security uppermost on their agenda, BIMSTEC members can identify a minimum common security denominator covering criminal laws, police structures, intelligence sharing. This could then become a stepping stone to a larger regional security architecture, an ideal worth pursuing in the future.