BIMSTEC: A call for robust institutionalisation

On 6 June, the Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC) completed 26 years since its inception. Established in 1997, the regional grouping initially consisted of India, Thailand, Bangladesh, and Sri Lanka. The agenda of BIMSTEC was to promote economic cooperation and integration between the littoral and island countries of the Bay of Bengal and integrate the South and Southeast Asian economies. Membership was later expanded to include Myanmar, Nepal, and Bhutan and the agenda broadened to include security and developmental considerations. Throughout the of 26 years, the regional grouping certainly has had its hits and misses, but the world is no longer unipolar as it was when the BIMSTEC was created. Today, regional powers are playing a major role in shaping the global economy and addressing new security challenges. This offers new opportunities and challenges for the grouping and also calls for its robust institutionalisation.

The agenda of BIMSTEC was to promote economic cooperation and integration between the littoral and island countries of the Bay of Bengal and integrate the South and Southeast Asian economies.

Even after its inception, BIMSTEC remained in a stupor for a long time. But as SAARC’s dysfunctionality became more evident in 2014 and the Bay of Bengal region grew in economic and strategic prominence, the South Asian BIMSTEC members began to push for economic integration and connectivity via the regional grouping. In 2016, India hosted the first-ever BRICS–BIMSTEC outreach leadership summit in Goa. This was followed by the fourth BIMSTEC summit in Kathmandu and the fifth summit in Colombo. Throughout all of its summits, the member states displayed their ability to cooperate in various sectors. They signed memorandums of understanding on technology transfer, cooperation of diplomatic academies, transnational crimes, and grid interconnection. In addition, BIMSTEC members  also sought support from the Asian Development Bank for their 10-year master plan on connectivity.

BIMSTEC: New challenges and opportunities

Today, BIMSTEC faces new challenges. The COVID-19 pandemic and the Russia-Ukraine conflict have largely exacerbated issues of supply chain disruption, global economic fallout, debt accumulation, inflation, and energy and food insecurity. The growing challenge of climate change has further added to these anxieties. As most of these challenges are transnational, regional partnerships have become necessary, even as issue-based minilateral collaborations are on the rise.

To navigate through these ongoing challenges, and to fulfil the broader aspirations of the BIMSTEC countries in the Indo-Pacific, regional integration and institutionalisation have become more important than ever before.

In addition, BIMSTEC countries are also facing several challenges that have ramifications for the region. Energy and food insecurity continues to haunt many of the member states. Nepal’s economy has entered a period of recession. Sri Lanka is slowly recovering from its worst economic and humanitarian crisis since independence. Both countries are still facing forex declines, food and fuel inflation, and a shortage of essentials. To protect its forex reserves, Bangladesh has requested the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for a precautionary loan. In Myanmar, the country’s economy and security situation are in shambles. The Rohingya issue has also continued to create complications in Bangladesh-Myanmar ties. To navigate through these ongoing challenges, and to fulfil the broader aspirations of the BIMSTEC countries in the Indo-Pacific, regional integration and institutionalisation have become more important than ever before. BIMSTEC is, thus, becoming a foreign policy priority for its members.

Intent and institutionalisation

Invigorated through political will, BIMSTEC is utilising strategic momentum to revive its relevance and effectiveness in the contemporary geopolitical milieu. In the Bay of Bengal region, bilateralism is the prevalent and predominant practice among the countries. In such a political environment, for a multilateral organisation to thrive, there is a need to strengthen its institutional mechanisms. In this pursuit, BIMSTEC has undertaken some initiatives in the past few years, cardinal amongst which was the adoption of the BIMSTEC Charter at the fifth Summit Meeting, held on 30 March 2022. It established the legal and institutional framework of BIMSTEC, providing the regional organisation with a concrete foundation for its future initiatives. Building on this base, BIMSTEC has begun strengthening its administrative procedures by approving key documents designed to further systematise its functioning, at the 19th BIMSTEC Ministerial Meeting held on 9 March 2023, in Bangkok. These documents include the Rules of Procedure for Core BIMSTEC Mechanisms (the Summit, the Ministerial Meeting, the Senior Officials’ Meeting, and the BIMSTEC Permanent Working Committee); BIMSTEC Sectoral Mechanisms; and BIMSTEC’s External Relations. The Rules of Procedure is set to be adopted by the organisation at its upcoming sixth Summit Meeting on November 2023. These apart, the member countries also approved the terms of reference for an Eminent Persons Group, which will make recommendations to guide the grouping’s future directions; the Agreement on Maritime Transport Cooperation which will be signed at the sixth Summit; and the BIMSTEC Bangkok Vision 2030, which will also be launched at the Summit.

Bilateralism is the prevalent and predominant practice among the countries. In such a political environment, for a multilateral organisation to thrive, there is a need to strengthen its institutional mechanisms.

In the spectrum of areas of cooperation, BIMSTEC has also reduced the number from 14 sectors to seven comprehensive domains. While this certainly makes BIMSTEC’s objectives more feasible, a lean budget of approximately US$ 200,000  remains a persistent concern. Although initiatives had been undertaken for the creation of a BIMSTEC Development Fund intended to ease the planning, and implementation of projects and programmes under the various cooperation areas, it is yet to be implemented. For BIMSTEC to be truly effective, there is a need for adequate funding.

Imbibing best practices in multilateralism

In addition to its internal efforts, BIMSTEC must imbibe best practices from its counterparts. Lying in close geographic proximity to BIMSTEC is the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), a multilateral success story in the Global South. Given the overlapping membership of both institutions and the commonality in many concerns that they face, the ASEAN example can serve as a template in multilateralism for BIMSTEC to consider. Effectively, this can initiate future partnerships between the two organisations as well. In this effort, a BIMSTEC Secretariat Delegation recently held a series of meetings with the ASEAN Secretariat in Jakarta, Indonesia, “to learn about ASEAN’s mechanisms and best practices and explore potential future collaboration between BIMSTEC and ASEAN.” However, while drawing lessons from ASEAN, BIMSTEC must remember that while the former was formed as a security organisation, it  was essentially an economic partnership.

Given the overlapping membership of both institutions and the commonality in many concerns that they face, the ASEAN example can serve as a template in multilateralism for BIMSTEC to consider.

As a member of both organisations, Thailand has a crucial role to play in nurturing such collaborations, ably assisted by India—a BIMSTEC member and an ASEAN Dialogue partner. While Myanmar could also have played a meaningful role in facilitating the ties, its domestic situation can be a restraining factor. Nonetheless, the Junta have continued to show their interest in engaging with the BIMSTEC. The Chairman of the State Administration Council of Myanmar - Senior General Min Aung Hlaing’s reaffirmation “to achieve the aims and objectives set forth in the BIMSTEC Charter” during the commemoration of BIMSTEC’s 26^th foundation day, further substantiates this commitment.

A way forward 

As the need and interest for a functional regional organisation grow amongst the Bay of Bengal countries to address emerging economic and security concerns, the time is ripe for BIMSTEC to carve its niche in the region. This is even more crucial as the Bay of Bengal region will continue to be more critical to the strategic contours of the emerging global order, and the centres of gravity of global politics and economics shift to the Indo-Pacific. As the Indian Prime Minister, Narendra Modi states in his message on the anniversary of BIMSTEC, “The Bay of Bengal has been a long-standing bridge between the people of the BIMSTEC region. Our current efforts to have a maritime cooperation agreement and an agreement to facilitate the movement of motor vehicles across the region reinforces the importance of the Bay for our collective security, connectivity and prosperity.”

To prevent national issues from hindering its progress, BIMSTEC can formulate a dispute-resolution mechanism, which operates on the principles of deliberation and consensus.

To operate more effectively, BIMSTEC’s recent initiatives of strengthening institutional mechanisms are indeed a start but the road ahead is long if not arduous. To make these initiatives more meaningful and relevant, BIMSTEC needs to be more inclusive in its workings, through the participation of different stakeholders, especially local communities. Furthermore, to prevent national issues from hindering its progress, BIMSTEC can formulate a dispute-resolution mechanism, which operates on the principles of deliberation and consensus. As BIMSTEC tries to emerge as a Bay of Bengal Community, it would also be prudent to invite Indonesia as an observer state into its fold. Sharing the same geopolitical space, and as a prominent ASEAN member, the country has the potential to further refine BIMSTEC’s enterprises if called upon to do so. There is direction and drive for BIMSTEC to realise its destiny in the Bay of Bengal, and to accomplish this, the need of the hour is more deliberations, prompt decisions, and effective deliverance.

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Sohini Bose is a Junior Fellow with the Strategic Studies Programme at the Observer Research Foundation  Aditya Gowdara Shivamurthy is a Junior Fellow with the Strategic Studies Programme at the Observer Research Foundation

• International Affairs
• India
• Neighbourhood
• ASEAN
• BIMSTEC
• Climate change
• Economic
• Global Economy
• Indo-Pacific
• maritime
• security
• Unipolar world

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