ASSIGNMENT
TOPIC NAME – Role of BIMSTEC
SUBJECT – Political Science-III
ASSIGNMENT SUBMITTED TO
FACULTY OF LAW, UNIVERSITY OF LUCKNOW
For the Partial Fulfilment of the Requirement in
B.A.LL.B.(HONS.)-IV SEM (SECTION A)
Under guidance of: Submitted by:
DR. DC Mishra Piyush Kushwaha
FACULTY OF LAW University roll no.-190013015102
UNIVERSITY OF LUCKNOW Class roll no.- 40
FACULTY OF LAW
UNIVERSITY OF LUCKNOW
LUCKNOW, U.P.
2020-2021
Introduction
In this assignment, I have discussed about the BIMSTEC (Bay of
Bengal Initiative for Multi Sectoral Technical and Economic
Cooperation). Also covered under this assignment is its Background,
Objective, Permanent Secretariat, Chairmanship, Member Nations,
BIMSTEC Priority sectors, Principles and its role.
Role of BIMSTEC
The Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and
Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC) is an international organisation
of seven nations of South Asia and Southeast Asia, housing 1.73
billion people and having a combined gross domestic product of $3.8
trillion (2021). The BIMSTEC member states – Bangladesh, Bhutan,
India, Myanmar, Nepal, Sri Lanka, and Thailand – are among the
countries dependent on the Bay of Bengal.
Fourteen priority sectors of cooperation have been identified and
several BIMSTEC centres have been established to focus on those
sectors. A BIMSTEC free trade agreement is under negotiation, also
referred to as the mini SAARC.
Leadership is rotated in alphabetical order of country names. The
permanent secretariat is in Dhaka, Bangladesh.
Background
On 6 June 1997, a new sub-regional grouping was formed in Bangkok
under the name BIST-EC (Bangladesh, India, Sri Lanka, and Thailand
Economic Cooperation). Following the inclusion of Myanmar on 22
December 1997 during a special Ministerial Meeting in Bangkok, the
Group was renamed ‘BIMST-EC’ (Bangladesh, India, Myanmar, Sri
Lanka and Thailand Economic Cooperation). In 1998, Nepal became
an observer. In February 2004, Nepal and Bhutan become full
members.
On 31 July 2004, in the first Summit the grouping was renamed as
BIMSTEC or the Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral
Technical and Economic Cooperation.
Objective
There are 14 main sectors of BIMSTEC along technological and
economic cooperation among south Asian and southeast Asian
countries along the coast of the Bay of Bengal.
Trade & Investment
Transport & Communication
Energy
Tourism
Technology
Fisheries
Agriculture
Public Health
Poverty Alleviation
Counter-Terrorism & Transnational Crime
Environment & Disaster Management
People-to-People Contact
Cultural Cooperation
Climate Change
Sectors 7 to 13 were added at the 8th Ministerial Meeting in
Dhaka in 2005 while the 14th sector was added in 11th
Ministerial Meeting in New Delhi in 2008.
Member nations are denoted as Lead Countries for each sector.
Provides cooperation to one another for the provision of training
and research facilities in educational vocational and technical
fields.
Promote active collaboration and mutual assistance in economic,
social, technical and scientific fields of common interest.
Provides help to increase the socio-economic growth of the
member countries.
Permanent Secretariat
The BIMSTEC Permanent Secretariat at Dhaka was opened in 2014
and India contributes 32% of its expenditure. The current Secretary
General of the BIMSTEC is Ambassador Tenzin Lekphell from
Bhutan and the former Secretary General was Mr. Shahidul Islam
from Bangladesh. And First Secretary General was Mr. Sumith
Nakandala from Sri Lanka.
Chairmanship
BIMSTEC priority sectors
14 priority areas have been identified with the lead nations appointed
to lead the effort: The organisation has 15 priority areas for
cooperation, including Trade & Investment, Transport &
Communication, Energy, Tourism, Technology, Fisheries,
Agriculture, Public Health, Poverty Alleviation, Counter-Terrorism &
Transnational Crime, Environment & Disaster Management, People-
to-People Contact, Cultural Cooperation, Climate Change and Blue
Economy.
BIMSTEC Free Trade Area Framework Agreement
The BIMSTEC Free Trade Area Framework Agreement (BFTAFA)
has been signed by all member nations to stimulate trade and
investment in the parties, and attract outsiders to trade with and invest
in the BIMSTEC countries at a higher level. Subsequently, the "Trade
Negotiating Committee" (TNC) was set up, with Thailand as the
permanent chair, to negotiate in areas of trade in goods and services,
investment, economic co-operation, trade facilitations and technical
assistance for LDCs. Once negotiation on trade in goods is completed,
the TNC would then proceed with negotiation on trade in services and
investment.
The BIMSTEC Coastal Shipping Agreement draft was discussed on 1
December 2017 in New Delhi, to facilitate coastal shipping within 20
nautical miles of the coastline in the region to boost trade between the
member countries. Compared to the deep-sea shipping, coastal ship
requires smaller vessels with lesser draft and involve lower costs.
Once the agreement becomes operational after it is ratified, a lot of
cargo movement between the member countries can be done through
the cost effective, environment friendly and faster coastal shipping
routes.
On 7 and 8 November 2019, the first ever BIMSTEC Conclave of
Ports summit was held in Visakhapatnam, India. The main aims of
this summit are providing a platform to strengthen maritime
interaction, port-led connectivity initiatives and sharing best practices
among member countries.
Cooperation with Asian Development Bank (ADB)
The Asian Development Bank (ADB) becomes a partner in 2005, to
undertake the "BIMSTEC Transport Infrastructure and Logistic
Study" (BTILS), which was completed in 2014.
Principles of BIMSTEC
Sovereign Equality
Territorial Integrity
Political Independence
No-interference in Internal Affairs
Peaceful Co- existence
Mutual Benefit
Constitute an addition to and not be a substitute for bilateral,
regional or multilateral cooperation involving the Member
States.
Potential
Bridge between South and South East Asia and represents a
reinforcement of relations among these countries.
Platform for intra-regional cooperation between SAARC and
ASEAN members.
Home to around 1.5 billion people that constitute around 22% of
the global population.
With a combined gross domestic product (GDP) of 2.7 trillion
economy, BIMSTEC Member States have been able to sustain
an average 6.5% economic growth trajectory in the last five
years.
A fourth of the world’s traded goods cross the bay every year.
Important Connectivity Projects:
Kaladan Multimodal Project – links India and Myanmar.
Asian Trilateral Highway - connecting India and Thailand
through Myanmar.
Bangladesh-Bhutan-India-Nepal (BBIN) Motor Vehicles
Agreement - for seamless flow of passenger and cargo traffic.
Significance for India
Allows India to pursue these core policies:
Neighbourhood First - primacy to the country’s immediate
periphery;
Act East - connect India with Southeast Asia; and
Economic development of India’s north-eastern states – by
linking them to the Bay of Bengal region via Bangladesh and
Myanmar.
Allows India to counter China’s creeping influence in countries
around the Bay of Bengal due to the spread of its Belt and Road
Initiative.
A new platform for India to engage with its neighbours with
South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC)
becoming dysfunctional because of differences between India
and Pakistan.
Institutional Mechanisms
BIMSTEC Summit – highest policymaking body in BIMSTEC
process and is comprised of heads of state/government of
member states.
Ministerial Meeting – second apex policy-making forum of
BIMSTEC attended by the External/Foreign Ministers of
Member States.
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 – the two important forums
to ensure active participation of private sector.
Challenges
Though largely devoid of bilateral tensions, as is the case in SAARC,
BIMSTEC does not seem to have made much progress.
Inconsistency in Meetings: BIMSTEC planned to hold summits
every two years, ministerial meetings every year, but only four
summits have taken place in 20 years up to 2018.
Neglect by member states: It seems that India has used
BIMSTEC only when it fails to work through SAARC in the
regional setting and other major members like Thailand and
Myanmar are focused more towards ASEAN than BIMSTEC.
Broad Focus Areas: The focus of BIMSTEC is very wide,
including 14 areas of cooperation like connectivity, public
health, agriculture etc. It is suggested that BIMSTEC should
remain committed to small focus areas and cooperate in them
efficiently.
Bilateral Issues between Member Nations: Bangladesh is facing
one of the worst refugee crises of Rohingyas from Myanmar
who are fleeing prosecution in the state of Rakhine in Myanmar.
There is a border conflict between Myanmar and Thailand.
No FTA: BIMSTEC FTA was negotiated in 2004, talks on it are
yet to be concluded.
BCIM: The formation of another sub-regional initiative, the
Bangladesh-China-India-Myanmar (BCIM) Forum, with the
proactive membership of China, has created more doubts about
the exclusive potential of BIMSTEC.
Way forward
Since the BIMSTEC region is notable for its diversity, the member
states need to build on the regional synergies and work towards
utilising the available resources in the most optimal manner.
This would help build a stronger and a more dynamic BIMSTEC.
