[Answered] After 25 years, BIMSTEC can do much better as a grouping, addressing shortcomings in trade and connectivity. In the light of the statement, highlight the achievements of BIMSTEC grouping and enumerate the challenges it is facing on the way to becoming effective.

The Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC) is a regional multilateral organization. It came into being in 1997 through the Bangkok Declaration. Its members (Bangladesh, India, Myanmar, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Nepal, and Bhutan) lie in the littoral and adjacent areas of the Bay of Bengal.

Achievements of BIMSTEC:

• The BIMSTEC Permanent Secretariat was opened in 2014 in Dhaka. It helps in better management of regional issues.
• BIMSTEC convention cooperate in combating international terrorism, transnational organised crime, and illicit drug trafficking. It encourages data sharing and intelligence gathering on criminal activities.
• The grouping has also registered progress in forging security cooperation, and creating mechanisms and practices for the better management of humanitarian assistance and disaster relief.
• Many memoranda of understanding, agreements and legal instruments provide the foundation for developing functional cooperation in select areas such as agriculture, trade, sustainable development and connectivity.

Challenges:

• A major failure is the continuing inability to produce a comprehensive Free Trade Agreement (FTA) 18 years after the signing of the Framework Agreement.
• Mega-projects aimed to improve connectivity between India, Myanmar and Thailand have been delayed inordinately. Only limited progress has been achieved so far, despite the adoption of the Master Plan for Connectivity supported by the Asian Development Bank (ADB).
• The movement towards establishing the BIMSTEC Development Fund is minimal.
• The grouping has talked about the Blue Economy but is yet to begin any work on it.
• Business chambers and corporate leaders are yet to be engaged fully with the activities of BIMSTEC. This leaves the grouping largely in the hands of officials and experts.

In this Indo-Pacific century, the BIMSTEC has the potential to play a pivotal role, deepening linkages between South Asia and Southeast Asia. It should accelerate the region’s economic development by collaborating with the newly minted Indo-Pacific Economic Framework for Prosperity (IPEF). New synergy should be created between BIMSTEC and the IPEF.