PYQ Vault · Paper 2 · Regionalisation of World Politics
Evaluate the role of BIMSTEC in multi-sectoral technical and economic cooperation.
How the answer moves
The flow snapshot — the routes in, the body, the counter-view and the routes out.
Flow snapshot — how the answer moves
Intro routes
R1 mandate written into the name → Bangkok Declaration 1997, South + Southeast Asia → verdict staked: works as a technical body, disappoints as an economic one / R2 BIMSTEC as a functional experiment → sector-by-sector design, each member leading one → judge it against its own promise
Body flow
Mitrany’s functional method → technical cooperation breeds habits of collaboration → the gains are real: grid-interconnection MoU → technology-transfer facility → marine and climate research → Kaladan Multimodal → Charter + Bangkok Vision, late by two decades → turn to rules-based regionalism → but the economic half is missing: no FTA → low intra-regional trade → unfunded Development Fund → weak Secretariat
Counter-view
Muni & Khatri: the project-based method was built to complement SAARC → defence fair but incomplete → Haas: spillover needs political participation ~ De: political will, stronger institutions, steady implementation
Conclusion routes
R1 technical mandate delivered, economic one postponed → a funded Secretariat and a real FTA will decide its worth / R2 design sound, politics missing → BIMSTEC works as a functional platform, not yet as an economic community
Model answer
Handwritten, in the form it would be written in the examination hall.
