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The little Himalayan kingdom of Bhutan, owing to its strategic geographic location, is turning out to be the new hub for regional cooperation in South Asia. Bhutan's hydro-power prospects are no secret.

The Bay of Bengal is highly prone to extreme weather events, many of which result in massive disaster. The sub-regional grouping, BIMSTEC (Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral and Technical Cooperation), took a long time to begin nurturing their collective capabilities in disaster mitigation. It was only after the Indian Ocean tsunami of 2004, which caused overwhelming devastation in the region, that BIMSTEC identified the area of ‘Envir

While India has stated that it hopes to insulate itself from future shocks, most of the members of the BIMSTEC have become aware of an over-reliance o

This Issue Brief focuses on the reasons for the need to have sub-regional integration and cooperation between the four South Asian countries of BBIN--Bangladesh, Bhutan, India and Nepal. It also looks at previous attempts made at sub-regional cooperation by countries in the region and the areas of potential cooperation.

India can work with regional financial institutions to expand successful Africa Summits, economic outreach, and improve LOC delivery through collabora

Even as globalisation has succeeded in creating a closely connected world, its biggest failure may yet be that it could not produce a stable world. Today there is a widely held view that organising the world regionally may be complementary to globalisation, if not serve as a replacement altogether. Other analysts consider the relationship as more tangled, debating whether to view regionalism as a stepping stone to globalisation or as a stumbling

The failure of SAARC to nurture cooperation in South Asia has pushed regional players to search for an alternative.  BIMSTEC, grouping the nations in the Bay of Bengal region, is popularly favoured as the viable option. Two decades since its inception, however, BIMSTEC’s successes have been minimal. How workable is BIMSTEC as an option for pursuing regional cooperation in South Asia? Are SAARC and BIMSTEC competitors or do they complement each

There is no dearth of evidence that shows how cross-border connectivity brings manifold benefits to the countries involved. In the Bay of Bengal and Indo-Pacific, greater engagement amongst the countries in these geostrategically and economically significant regions has become more crucial in the recent years. This report analyses the potential for greater connectivity in the Bay region within a collaborative framework involving India, its easter

Development cooperation in the Indo-Pacific is vital for sustainable growth and addressing common vulnerabilities; however, it is becoming overly comp

Ashok Malik sets the agenda for the upcoming Indian Ocean Region - Association for Regional Cooperation Dialogue, steered by the three nations.

This brief is an experienced journalist’s view of how the media should regard the relevance of BIMSTEC, or the Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation; and, in turn, how BIMSTEC can utilise the media in making its issues known to the public and the policymakers, in its immediate region and beyond. The brief argues that if BIMSTEC is to become an effective forum for regional cooperation, it should be more o

Two decades since its inception, the Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC) has yet to truly succeed as an instrument of regional integration. The primary reason for the group’s slow progress is general inertia, or lack of interest amongst its members. There have also been more pressing national and regional issues that have overtaken the group’s development. This is set to change under the im

This paper explores the various opportunities and challenges of the Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation or BIMSTEC, a unique inter-regional grouping composed of aspiring member countries from South Asia and Southeast Asia. While the grouping has massive potential to contribute to regional cooperation, this paper explores the capabilities of the organisation in terms of meeting the expectations of renewed

Member states of the Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC) continue to grapple with a host of security issues, including the burgeoning ISIS threat and the humanitarian crisis in Myanmar. In the recent months, the region has witnessed the immense social, political, economic and geo-strategic implications of terrorism and displacement. BIMSTEC’s counterterrorism initiatives must therefore be scr

Maritime security in the Indian Ocean needs to be conceptualised. Thus, a rethink about injecting momentum into collective regional cooperation via IO

With the threat of instability looming over Central Asia, the need for regional cooperation has increased significantly.

With the World Bank punishing Bangladesh by withdrawing support to $3 billion multipurpose bridge over River Padma, Dhaka is hoping that China will step into the breach. Could India pit ch in too? Or Delhi and Beijing collaborate on a transformative economic venture in Banglade sh, setting a new basis for regional cooperation?

Despite a compelling techno-economic rationale for BIMSTEC nations, regional cooperation in the field of energy has not moved beyond the drawing board. This brief argues that inadequate investment in regional infrastructure, and the lack of political will to invest in shared infrastructure, are the consequence of inadequate cooperation between countries in the region, and not its cause. The electricity industries of BIMSTEC countries are being gr

The Pacific and Indian Ocean islands states require support from external partners to protect the integrity of independent thought and defend themselv

The new political leadership in Delhi has given a ray of hope for the prospect of regional cooperation. In this regard, it is very important for India to understand how it is perceived by neighbouring countries in the South Asian region, says Bangladesh's Deputy High Commissioner Mahbub Hasan Saleh.

Indian diplomacy seems to be drawing a blank when it comes to regional cooperation involving fine diplomacy and seasoned statecraft. The recent events relating to India's attempts towards getting natural gas from Bangladesh and Myanmar and the negative response from Bangladesh suggest that it is unlikely to obtain any gesture of

As leading Asian democracies, India and Japan are perfectly poised to stake their claim in the sphere of geopolitical influence by increasing regional cooperation with countries like Myanmar

India’s renewed relationship with Uganda presents a test cast for Indian diplomacy

This paper explains Russian co-option of India into the Eastern Economic Forum (EEF) at a high level of participation in September 2019 and the range of agreements involved. It argues that the co-option was the result of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s dissatisfaction with the economic outcomes so far for the Russian Far East of “northeast Asian regional cooperation.” Moscow related this behaviour to skewed priorities of East Asia’s �

After the marginalisation of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (Saarc) since 2016 owing to tensions between India and Pakistan, a search for alternative regional collaborations led India to Bimstec.

To improve South Asian regional cooperation, Modi has three options. The first is to focus on a two-speed Saarc. The second is to build on transregional institutions like the BIMSTEC. However, it is the third way -- unilateral action -- that offers Modi the greatest opportunity. For example, Modi has already proposed to build a Saarc satellite for use by its neighbours.

With the good news from the 17th SAARC (South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation) meeting in the Maldives about the future effective implementation of the South Asian Free Trade Area agreement, trade relations among member-countries will get a big boost.

Efforts toward a peaceful reconciliation with the Taliban have failed and Afghanistan and the United States remain engaged in a bitter war against the insurgent group. The US has shown willingness and capability to go after Taliban leaders on Pakistani soil, upsetting its relations with Islamabad and ending Pakistan's game of plausible deniability. Under its new leader, Haibatullah Akhundzada, the Taliban continue their onslaught against the

SAARC conjures up an image of jamborees and no results. The South Asian Association of Regional cooperation with its seven members ( India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Maldives, Nepal, Bhutan and Bangladesh) remains one of the most dysfunctional trade blocs and there is hardly any freedom of movement of goods, services and people. The next (13th) SAARC summit is going to be held in Dhaka in the beginning of January 2005.

The enhanced energy cooperation between India and Bangladesh could help open new horizons in regional cooperation.

Afghanistan thinks that the Istanbul Process, as a mechanism established in November 2011 for regional cooperation to ensure stability in the country, is still under-utilised, says Afghanistan's Ambassador to India Shaida M Abdali.

Making a case for suspending Afghanistan from SAARC to prevent the crippling of the organisation

The responses to the pandemic suggest a greater scope of regional cooperation among the countries in the Bay of Bengal region.

New possibilities on regional cooperation are emerging, which India should not hesitate to explore

The Bay of Bengal region links South Asia and Southeast Asia, with the BIMSTEC (Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation) serving as a platform of trans-border cooperation. The BIMSTEC’s prime assets are the historical and cultural links between the nations, and their spirit of community. However, the lack of both a robust decision-making mechanism and a set of common rules have slowed down the growth of th

Instead of agonising over the failures of the Saarc, Delhi has recognised that two-speed regionalism is quite common around the world. Also, India has often looked beyond the Saarc to benefit from trans-regional cooperation, like BIMSTEC

With the crippling of the South Asian Association of Regional Cooperation (SAARC), India’s quest for a new architecture for its neighbourhood policy

Regional cooperation mechanisms should join hands and devise a framework to counter China’s grey-zone tactics in the Indo-Pacific region

आफ्रिका शिखर परिषदा यशस्वी व्हाव्यात, यासाठी भारताला तेथील प्रादेशिक वित्तीय संस्थांसोबत योजना आखता येतील तसेच निर्यातदार-आयातदारांना सुरक्षित पेमेंट पद्धतीसह व्याप

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