Dr. Arvind Kumar*
Recently-held 5th BIMSTEC Summit (29-30 March), apart from adopting a charter has also concurred on enhancing mutual cooperation in several areas that entail the potential of opening up new vistas of cooperation in several areas, thereby helping BIMSTEC explore new horizons as a vibrant regional organisation similar to the ASEAN. BIMSTEC (Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation) comprises Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Myanmar, Nepal, Sri Lanka & Thailand. With 21.7 percent of the world’s population and combined GDP of USD 3.8 trillion, the BIMSTEC is fast emerging as an influential engine of economic growth.
5th BIMSTEC Summit was hosted in virtual mode on 29-30 March by Sri Lanka, the current chair of BIMSTEC. Prior to the Summit, preparatory meetings at the Senior Official and Foreign Minister levels were held in Colombo on 28-29 March in the hybrid mode. The Summit’s theme “Towards a Resilient Region, Prosperous Economies, Healthy People” encompasses the main current priorities of member-states, and the efforts by BIMSTEC to develop cooperation activities that support member state’s programmes to deal with the economic and development consequences of the Covid-19 pandemic. The key outcome of the Summit was the adoption and signing of the BIMSTEC Charter, which formalizes the grouping into an organization consisting of members states that are littoral to, and dependent upon, the Bay of Bengal. The ‘BIMSTEC Charter’ entails the potential of equipping the grouping with an international identity and laying out the basic institutional architecture through which it will carry out its work.
The Summit also witnessed significant progress being achieved in the BIMSTEC connectivity agenda with the adoption of the ‘Master Plan for Transport Connectivity’ by Leaders which envisages a guidance framework for connectivity – related activities in the region in the future
In his virtual address to the 5th BIMSTEC Summit on 30 March, India’s PM Narendra Modi underscored the importance of enhanced BIMSTEC regional connectivity, cooperation and security and mooted several suggestions in this regard. Calling upon fellow leaders to strive to transform the Bay of Bengal into a Bridge of Connectivity, Prosperity, and Security among the BIMSTEC-member countries, Prime Minister Modi along with other leaders also saw the signing of three BIMSTEC agreements which represent progress being achieved in ongoing cooperation activities:
(i) BIMSTEC Convention on Mutual Legal Assistance in Criminal Matters;
(ii) BIMSTEC Memorandum of Understanding on Mutual Cooperation in the field of Diplomatic Training and
(iii) Memorandum of Association on Establishment of BIMSTEC Technology Transfer Facility.
Announcing that India would provide $ one million in aid to augment the operational budget of the BIMSTEC Secretariat, PM Modi minced no words when he said that the results of the BIMSTEC Summit will write a golden chapter in BIMSTEC’s history. Alluding to recent developments in Europe that had raised a question mark over the stability of international order, PM Modi said that in this context it has become important to make BIMSTEC regional cooperation more active because regional security is very important ‘now’ Emphasising on the necessity of moving forward on the free trade agreement proposal and tackling challenges of health and economic security, PM Modi said: “Today is the time· to make Bay of Bengal bridge of connectivity, bridge of prosperity, bridge of security.”
*President, India Water Foundation
