Can India Take the Lead in Redefining the Role of the BIMSTEC?

The fifth Bay of Bengal Initiative for the Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC) is being held in Colombo, Sri Lanka on March 30. Sri Lanka’s President Gotabaya Rajapaksa will chair this summit and the leaders from the BIMSTEC member countries, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi from India, will join the summit virtually. Apart from Sri Lanka and India, the other BIMSTEC members are Bangladesh, Bhutan, Myanmar, Nepal and Thailand. 

The BIMSTEC leaders are expected to discuss the establishment of basic institutional structures and mechanisms of the group. Amid growing economic challenges due to the COVID-19 pandemic and geopolitical concerns due to China’s strategic assertion, India should look to redefine the role of the BIMSTEC to make it a vibrant regional organization.

Why is the BIMSTEC important?

With the SAARC (South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation) failing to make a mark, the BIMSTEC has emerged as a promising contender to take forward the regional integration initiative. While India attempted revival of the SAARC in 2014 with Prime Minister Narendra Modi inviting the leaders of the regional grouping for his oath-taking ceremony, 2014 also remains the year when the SAARC Summit was held for the last time. 

The perpetual India-Pakistan dispute had severely undermined the purpose and functioning of the SAARC. Sensing the uncertain future of this initiative, Modi said during the 18th SAARC Summit held in Kathmandu in 2014 that the regional integration in South Asia must go ahead “through SAARC or outside of it, among all of us or some of us.” Recently, in January this year, India as well as other countries dismissed Pakistan’s offer to host the 19th SAARC Summit in Islamabad. As India-Pakistan relations have continued to deteriorate, there is little possibility of the SAARC being revived. 

In consonance with his own statement about SAARC, Modi has taken some steps to prioritize the BIMSTEC. In 2016, India hosted a BRICS-BIMSTEC Outreach Summit, a joint summit of the two groupings. In 2019, when he took oath for the second time as India’s prime minister, Modi invited the leaders of the BIMSTEC countries for the ceremony. 

Although, India has shown initiative in promoting the BIMSTEC, there is still a long way to go. In 29 years from 1985 (the year in which SAARC was established) to 2014, there have been 18 summits of the SAARC. In case of the BIMSTEC, which was established in 1997, the past 25 years have seen only five summits, which include the summit being held in Colombo Sri Lanka on March 30. 

The BIMSTEC countries must engage regularly for the grouping to function effectively. Also the fact that the member countries do not have any major dispute among themselves (like India and Pakistan) should help in the growth of the BIMSTEC. 

The location and the membership of the BIMSTEC which include countries from two regions – South Asia and Southeast Asia – make it a strategically important grouping. The grouping is focused on the Bay of Bengal which is a maritime gateway to Southeast Asia. India’s tilt towards the BIMSTEC is concomitant to its increasing focus on the maritime domain as well as its Act East Policy which prioritizes outreach to the Southeast Asian countries. 

From India’s point of view, the BIMSTEC could become a viable initiative to counter China’s influence. China’s growing presence in India’s neighbourhood as well as in South China Sea is a matter of concern for India, from the perspective of its own security as well as its outreach to Southeast Asia. While the Quad has gained prominence in the past two years in the Indo-Pacific Region, a fully functional BIMSTEC could be an addition to India’s proposition of existence of institutional mechanisms which to protect the interests of the stakeholders. 

Besides, with the US and the European countries engaged with the Russia-Ukraine conflict, China could sense an opportunity to further consolidate its expansive stand in the Indo-Pacific Region. India and the BIMSTEC should take this summit as an opportunity to build a deterrent mechanism. Among the sectors of cooperation of the BIMSTEC, India is the lead country of the Security Sector. The sub-sectors of this are Counter Terrorism and Transnational Crime (CTTC), Disaster Management and Energy. These are in consonance with India’s vision of SAGAR (Security and Growth for All in the Region). India, with its maritime vision and elaborate policies, could transform the BIMSTEC into a strong regional mechanism.   

Opportunity for the BIMSTEC to step up

The BIMSTEC Summit is being held at a time when two of its member countries – Sri Lanka and Myanmar – are facing steep challenges.

At present Sri Lanka is going through a very severe economic crisis. Multiple factors have led to this crisis such as drop in foreign exchange earnings as tourism industry suffered due to the COVID-19 pandemic, over dependence on imports of basic necessities and the burden of debts from China. India has stepped in to assist Sri Lanka through a series of economic packages. The BIMSTEC should consider this as an opportunity to do its bit and to provide assistance to Sri Lanka to tide over this economic crisis. 

Myanmar is facing crisis owing to the military coup which took place in early 2021.Sri Lanka has invited Myanmar’s military administration’s Foreign Minister Wunna Mwang Lwin for the BIMSTEC Foreign Ministers’ Summit being held on March 29. On his country’s decision to invite Myanmar’s foreign minister, Sri Lanka’s Foreign Secretary Admiral Jayanath Colombage (Retd.) said that it is better to engage with a country than to isolate it. Myanmar’s foreign minister’s participation in the BIMSTEC could be an important step to prevent the country from getting closer to China. The military coup in Myanmar has resulted in the western countries imposing sanctions on it. Growing international isolation has been pushing Myanmar closer to China. For its part, India has avoided condemning the Tatmadaw, Myanmar’s military, in harsh terms due to strategic interests. India has only expressed concerns on the developments in Myanmar. Engagement with the BIMSTEC could be an opportunity for Myanmar to avoid a total international isolation in return for adherence to democratic process. It also implies that Myanmar could reduce its dependence on China. 

The BIMSTEC Summit, held for the first time since 2018, needs to assume a greater role in the regional geopolitics. India as a major power in South Asia and in the Indo-Pacific Region must take the lead in the further development of the BIMSTEC as a strong institutional mechanism. 

[Photo by BIMSTEC]

The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author.

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