What is BIMSTEC, and why is it in focus ahead of its 30th anniversary?

📌 Summary:

• Context: Ahead of BIMSTEC's thirtieth anniversary next year, the Bay of Bengal grouping is stepping up cooperation against evolving security threats — from terrorism and cybercrime to maritime security

• At a meeting in New Delhi on Thursday, national security chiefs of the seven member countries endorsed a set of guiding principles for maritime law enforcement and disaster relief operations

• What it is: BIMSTEC — Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation — comprises countries of the Bay of Bengal region and seeks to act as a bridge between South and Southeast Asia

• Evolution: formed in 1997 as BIST-EC (Bangladesh, India, Sri Lanka, Thailand Economic Cooperation); became BIMST-EC after Myanmar joined; became BIMSTEC in 2004 with Nepal and Bhutan

• Why it revived: the grouping was relatively inactive until India's renewed push to mobilise regional support after the Uri terrorist attack (September 2016) and the boycott of the SAARC summit scheduled in Islamabad that November. A month later India hosted an outreach summit with BIMSTEC leaders alongside the BRICS summit in Goa

• Strategic logic: with SAARC largely defunct, BIMSTEC provides a common platform for South and Southeast Asian countries. ASEAN serves this role for Southeast Asia, but the lack of movement in India-Pakistan relations has left few options for South Asia. Landlocked Nepal and Bhutan also benefit from access to the Bay of Bengal

• Scale: BIMSTEC's seven members account for around 1.7 billion people — about 22% of world population — and a combined GDP of nearly $5 trillion

• The China factor: China has financed and built infrastructure across South and Southeast Asia through the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) in almost all BIMSTEC countries except Bhutan and India. For India, BIMSTEC offers a platform to advance regional connectivity as an alternative to China, while showcasing the Bay of Bengal as open and peaceful in contrast to China's conduct in the South China Sea

• Challenges: C Raja Mohan points to disputes between Bangladesh and Myanmar, and tensions between Delhi and Dhaka after Sheikh Hasina's ouster. Myanmar's civil war has diminished its potential as a land bridge between South and Southeast Asia. He writes that unlike SAARC, "which never truly sailed, BIMSTEC is a slow boat advancing toward greater engagement"

• Outcome of the meeting: the seven countries agreed to deepen cooperation against terrorism, organised crime, and cyber, maritime and energy security threats; they endorsed guidelines for maritime humanitarian assistance and disaster relief and guiding principles for interactions between maritime law enforcement agencies at sea. These aim to speed up joint disaster response while improving predictability and safety in the Bay of Bengal. NSA Doval said the current geopolitical environment — conflicts, supply-chain disruptions and emerging technological threats — underscored the need for closer regional cooperation

🎯 UPSC Relevance: GS2 — International Relations (regional groupings, India's neighbourhood policy, Act East). Directly relevant to questions on the decline of SAARC and the rise of alternative regional architecture, and to India's maritime and connectivity diplomacy in the Bay of Bengal.

📝 Prelims Facts:

• BIMSTEC = Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation; seven members

• Founded 1997 as BIST-EC (Bangladesh, India, Sri Lanka, Thailand); became BIMST-EC with Myanmar; BIMSTEC in 2004 with Nepal and Bhutan

• Members account for ~1.7 billion people (~22% of world population) and combined GDP of nearly $5 trillion

• Revival trigger: Uri attack (September 2016) and boycott of the Islamabad SAARC summit; BIMSTEC outreach summit held alongside the BRICS summit in Goa (2016)

• Bhutan and India are the only BIMSTEC members not part of China's Belt and Road Initiative

🔑 Key Term: BIMSTEC — A regional organisation of seven Bay of Bengal littoral and adjacent states that bridges South Asia and Southeast Asia, functioning as a sector-driven cooperative platform and increasingly as an alternative to the largely defunct SAARC.