The 5th BIMSTEC (Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation) summit was virtually held in Sri Lanka on March 30, 2022. The theme of the summit Towards a Resilient Region, Prosperous Economies, Healthy People reflects the main current priorities of member-States, and the efforts by BIMSTEC to develop cooperation activities to support member-State’s programmes to deal with the economic and development consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The main outcome of the summit was the adoption and signing of the BIMSTEC Charter, which formalises the grouping into an organisation made up of member-States that are littoral to, and dependent upon, the Bay of Bengal. Now, BIMSTEC has an international personality with its own emblem and a flag. With the development of the organisation into a formal structure, its leaders agreed to divide the working of the organisation into seven segments, with India providing leadership to the security pillar. Other segments include trade, investment, and development (Bangladesh); environment and climate change (Bhutan); agriculture and food security (Myanmar); people-to-people contact (Nepal); science, technology and innovation (Sri Lanka); and connectivity (Thailand).
Some Highlights of the Declaration
- The leaders reaffirmed their firm commitment to the principles and purposes of BIMSTEC as contained in the Bangkok Declaration of 1997.
- The leaders noted with satisfaction the evolution of BIMSTEC as a distinctive regional organisation of the Bay of Bengal nations with increased membership, expanded mandate, formal institutional arrangements and norms while retaining its unique character as a bridge between South and Southeast Asia.
- They noted that the devastating impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on health, economy, and society has created a renewed sense of urgency for leveraging geographical advantage and available resources in the BIMSTEC region to enhance economic activities and address vulnerabilities in the post-COVID-19 recovery and rehabilitation process.
- The member-States resolved to intensify regional cooperation to strengthen economic and physical connectivity to enhance regional trade, investment, tourism, technology, energy, and other forms of exchanges, including to offset the economic losses caused by the pandemic.
- They resolved to strengthen their collective resilience to combat the challenges of poverty, natural disasters, climate change, pandemics, and all other public health emergencies, terrorism, and transnational crimes.
- They also resolved to ensure food and energy security through partnership and joint actions, along with the implementation towards the 2030 Agenda for sustainable development, keeping in mind that COVID-19 may not be the last calamity to affect their region.
- They adopted the BIMSTEC Charter and approved the reconstituted sectors and sub-sectors of cooperation.
- They instructed the BIMSTEC secretariat to develop plans of action in consultation with lead countries of the reconstituted sectors and sub-sectors to guide their activities and to establish necessary institutional mechanisms to carry out their respective mandates.
- They urged the member-States to expedite conclusion of pending legal instruments and ratify the legal instruments that have already been signed.
- They approved the joint statement of the seventeenth ministerial meeting and the report of the eighteenth ministerial meeting for the implementation of the decisions and recommendations contained therein.
- They adopted the BIMSTEC Master Plan for transport connectivity as recommended by the ministerial meeting.
- They welcomed the appointment of Mr Tenzin Lekphell of Bhutan as the third Secretary General of BIMSTEC for the term of 2020–2023 with effect from November 06, 2020.
- They welcomed Thailand as the next Chair of BIMSTEC and offered their full cooperation to the new Chair.
India’s Stance
The Prime Minister of India, Modi, underscored the importance of enhancing BIMSTEC regional connectivity, cooperation, and security, and made several suggestions in this regard. He called upon the fellow leaders to strive to transform the Bay of Bengal into a bridge of connectivity, prosperity, and security among the member-States.
Referring to Russia’s attack on Ukraine, Modi said, “Recent developments in Europe have raised question marks over the stability of the international order… In this context, it has become important to make BIMSTEC regional cooperation more active… Regional security is very important now. It is time to make the Bay of Bengal a bridge of connectivity, prosperity, and security.
Significance of BIMSTEC
Constantino Xavier, a research fellow at the public policy think-tank, Centre for Social and Economic Progress, wrote in a paper for Carnegie India in 2018 that Bangladesh views BIMSTEC as a platform to position itself as more than just a small State on the Bay of Bengal. Sri Lanka sees BIMSTEC as an opportunity to connect herself with Southeast Asia and serve as the subcontinent’s hub for the wider Indo-Pacific region.
Nepal and Bhutan intend to connect with this region (Bay of Bengal) and escape their landlocked geographic positions. Myanmar and Thailand think that “connecting more deeply with India… would allow them to access a rising consumer market and, at the same time, balance Beijing and develop an alternative to China’s massive inroads into Southeast Asia”.
However, the region’s largest economy, India, has a lot at stake. In a speech given earlier, Modi had said, “BIMSTEC not only connects South and Southeast Asia, but also the ecologies of the Great Himalayas and the Bay of Bengal. With shared values, histories, ways of life, and destinies that are interlinked, BIMSTEC represents a common space for peace and development. For India, it is a natural platform to fulfil our key foreign policy priorities of ‘Neighbourhood First’ and ‘Act East’.”
Countering China Xavier is of the opinion that China has undertaken a massive drive to finance and build infrastructure in South and Southeast Asia through the Belt and Road Initiative in almost all BIMSTEC countries except Bhutan and India. Therefore, BIMSTEC could 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.
The Bay of Bengal can be showcased as open and peaceful, contrasting with China’s behaviour in the South China Sea. Xavier says that BIMSTEC could develop codes of conduct that preserve freedom of navigation and apply existing law of the seas regionally. Also, BIMSTEC could stem the region’s creeping militarisation by instituting a Bay of Bengal Zone of Peace that limits any bellicose behaviour of extra-regional power.
About BIMSTEC
BIMSTEC is a regional organisation comprising seven member-States: Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Myanmar, and Thailand. This sub-regional organisation came into being on June 06, 1997, through the Bangkok Declaration. Its Secretariat is in Dhaka, Bangladesh. Home to around 1.5 million people (around 22 per cent of the global population), Bimstec has a combined gross domestic product (GDP) of 2.7 trillion economy.
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