A ‘silver’ moment to propel a Bay of Bengal dream

Context

Recently, BIMSTEC marked the completion of 25 years since the foundation stone of Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC) grouping was laid.

About BIMSTEC

• BIMSTEC is a regional multilateral organization comprising 7 Member States lying in the littoral and adjacent areas of the Bay of Bengal.
• It came into being on 6 June 1997 through the Bangkok Declaration.
• The seven Member States are Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Myanmar and Thailand.
• Secretariat: Dhaka, Bangladesh.
• Initially, the economic bloc was formed with 4 Member States with the acronym ‘BIST-EC’ (Bangladesh, India, Sri Lanka and Thailand Economic Cooperation).
• Thailand has assumed the chairmanship of BIMSTEC for 2022.
• BIMSTEC Centres
  • BIMSTEC Energy Centre
  • BIMSTEC Centre on Weather and Climate
    

Difference from other regional groupings

• BIMSTEC is different from other regional groupings such as SAARC or ASEAN in being sector-driven.
• This means areas of cooperation are divided between members, out of the multiple sectors like trade, energy, transport, fishery, security, culture, tourism and so on.
• Unlike the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC), post ­2014, BIMSTEC has continued to hold its summits and meetings of Foreign Ministers.
• Unlike the Indian Ocean Rim Association (IORA) which held only one summit since its establishment in 1997, BIMSTEC has succeeded in holding five summits so far. It has now resolved to hold regular summits once in two years.