BIMSTEC

1. Context

2. The strategic shift from SAARC to BIMSTEC

• SAARC has failed abjectly in accomplishing most of its objectives. South Asia continues to be an extremely poor and least integrated region in the world. The intraregional trade and investment in South Asia are low very low when compared to other regions such as the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) and Sub-Saharan Africa.
• The Prime Minister of India invited SAARC countries for his swearing-in ceremony in 2014, including Pakistan on the lines of his Neighbourhood first policy.
• The Prime Minister also participated in the 18th SAARC summit at Kathmandu in November 2014.
• But after the Uri attack, (on an Indian military base) in October 2016, India gave a renewed push for the BIMSTEC that had existed for almost two decades but had been largely ignored.
• Alongside the BRICS summit in Goa, PM hosted an outreach summit with BIMSTEC leaders.
• BIMSTEC countries had supported New Delhi's call for a boycott of the SAARC summit scheduled in Islamabad in November 2016.
• As a result, the SAARC summit was postponed for an indefinite period, India has claimed victory in isolating Pakistan, having accused that country of carrying out the Uri Attack.
• Since 2016 there has been no movement forward on resuming the SAARC summit.
• BIMSTEC had emerged as an alternative regional platform where five SAARC (Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Nepal, and Sri Lanka) countries could gather and discuss sub-regional cooperation.
• The search for an alternative had been evident at the 2014 SAARC summit in Kathmandu, where the Prime Minister of India had made a statement that "opportunities must be realized through SAARC or Outside it" and "among us all some of us". That was an important signal to Pakistan, as well as to fellow SAARC members.
• The new narrative is that India can successfully use the instrument of bilateralism over regionalism to pursue its interests in South Asia. While bilateralism is undoubtedly important, it can at best complement, not substitute, regional or multilateral efforts.
• Regionalism has brought immense success in other parts such as East Asia and Africa. 

3. About BIMSTEC

• The Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC) is a regional organization comprising seven Member states five deriving from South Asia, including Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Nepal, and Sri Lanka, and two from Southeast Asia, including Myanmar and Thailand.
• BIMSTEC connects South and Southeast Asia and the ecologies of the Great Himalayas and the Bay of Bengal.
• It mainly aims to create an enabling environment for rapid economic development; accelerate social progress; and promote collaboration on matters of common interest in the region.
• Fourteen priority sectors of cooperation have been identified and several BIMSTEC centers have been established to focus on those sectors.
• A BIMSTEC free trade agreement is also being negotiated among the member states, also referred to as mini SAARC.
• The BIMSTEC Charter is significantly better than the SAARC charter. For instance, unlike the SAARC Charter, Article 6 of the BIMSTEC Charter talks about the 'Admission of new members to the group. This paves the way for the admission of countries such as the Maldives.

4. Objectives of BIMSTEC

• Creating an enabling environment for the rapid economic development of the sub-region.
• Encouraging the spirit of equality and partnership.
• Promote active collaboration and mutual assistance in the economic, social, educational, technical, and scientific fields of common interest, 
• Provide help to increase the socio-economic growth of the member countries.

5. Measures to be taken

• BIMSTEC should not end up as another SAARC. For this, its member countries should raise the stakes.
• A high-quality FTA offering deep economic integration-something that Prime Minister Narendra Modi also advocated at the last BIMSTEC ministerial meeting-would be an ideal step.
• India should explore legal ways to move successful SAARC institutions such as SAU to BIMSTEC. These steps will give stronger roots to BIMSTEC and enable erecting of a new South Asian regional order based on incrementalism and flexibility, ushering in prosperity and peace in the region.

For Prelims & Mains