Bay of Bengal group needs FTA boost

The fifth BIMSTEC (Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation) summit has taken long-overdue steps to put in place a structure to formalise and energise the functioning of the seven-member regional grouping. At the recent summit in Colombo, BIMSTEC adopted and signed a charter that makes it an “organisation of member states” that are not only littorals of the Bay of Bengal but also dependent on it. This is an important step forward. Since it came into being in 1996, BIMSTEC has changed in several ways. Its name changed from BIST-EC to BIMST-EC and then to BIMSTEC, a reflection of its growing membership. Today, BIMSTEC includes Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Myanmar, Nepal, Sri Lanka and Thailand. Sadly, the regional grouping has few achievements to its credit. Over the past 26 years, it has languished in lethargy. That may have now changed. The recent summit has given BIMSTEC an institutional architecture; India’s contribution of $1 million towards the secretariat’s operations will enhance its capacity. Summits will be held every two years. BIMSTEC members also finalised a transport connectivity roadmap at the recent meeting. BIMSTEC activities will take place in seven pillars, with each pillar led by one country that is responsible for furthering cooperation in this area. This will put the organisation under pressure to perform and produce concrete outcomes. India will lead the security pillar.

India has done well to give BIMSTEC direction. Prime Minister Narendra Modi suggested that it work towards a regional free trade agreement. This should not be difficult as member-states are already part of bilateral and multilateral FTAs and so are not opposed to the principle of free trade per se. Intra-regional trade among BIMSTEC members is a meagre $70 billion, or 7% of the total global trade of its member-states. This will grow if BIMSTEC implements an FTA for the region.

South Asian countries have been frustrated with SAARC. Little cooperative work happened under its ambit, depriving South Asian countries of the benefits of regional cooperation. BIMSTEC now appears ready to deliver. Progress at the fifth summit indicates that member-states, especially the South Asian ones, are ready to move on from the conflictual days of SAARC to a cooperative future in this grouping. BIMSTEC has immense potential, but it requires members to pull in the same direction. Myanmar’s participation in the recent summit evoked criticism from the US and cast a shadow over an otherwise successful meeting. Indian officials have justified the decision to include Myanmar in the meeting by saying that the grouping’s activities will improve the lives of ordinary people. BIMSTEC must ensure that this is indeed so.