BIMSTEC – A Shining Example of Regional and South-South Cooperation

The world is facing profound geopolitical and geoeconomic challenges. The rules-based international order is has faced grave setbacks. The global multilateral institutions, including the UN and International Organisations, have been facing financial distress and uncertain future. With global multilateralism under stress, the salience of plurilateralism, minilateralism and regional multilateralism has naturally grown. Regional organizations, like BIMSTEC, are being seen as the preferred platforms to forge cooperation amongst the countries located in a region or sub-region.

Regional Organizations, like BIMSTEC, have natural advantages. They bring together a small number of countries, located in a specific region, facing shared security and developmental challenges, which they cannot deal with alone. They are able to find regionally appropriate solutions. They are also more effective and efficient due to their small membership, which makes it easy to build consensus and take timely decisions.

Bay of Bengal region is a geo-strategically significant part of Asia and the Pacific. 7 BIMSTEC member States are home to 1.8 billion people; they had in 2024 a combined GDP of over $5.0 trillion and a combined external trade of almost $3.0 trillion. A significant part of global trade and energy flows through the waters of Bay of Bengal.

Further, 7 BIMSTEC member States, located adjacent and close to Bay of Bengal, the largest Bay of the world, face similar developmental and transnational security challenges, which, they realize, they cannot deal with alone. Hence, they are keen to forge regional cooperation under BIMSTEC. Their shared historical experiences, cultural linkages and civilization legacies provide a strong foundation for forging regional cooperation.

BIMSTEC, established in June 1997 by its 4 founding members – Bangladesh, India, Sri Lanka and Thailand – as a non-political platform to facilitate cooperation amongst the countries of South Asia and South East Asia, has emerged as a vibrant regional organization with 7 members, five from South Asia- Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Nepal and Sri Lanka – and 2 from South East Asia – Myanmar and Thailand.

BIMSTEC is an Inter-Governmental Regional Organisation, with its Permanent Secretariat located in Dhaka, Bangladesh. Since its inception, 29 years ago, BIMSTEC has made significant progress. It has adopted its own Charter and has institutionalized the requisite core and sectoral mechanisms for forging regional cooperation. It has its vision enshrined in BIMSTEC Bangkok Vision 2030, which provides a roadmap for expanding and deepening regional cooperation. As a non-political organization, BIMSTEC has focused on promoting tangible cooperation, based on shared priorities of the member States.

BIMSTEC has a comprehensive agenda, comprising 18 sectors of cooperation, clubbed in 7 Groups with designation of 7 member States as the Lead member State for one of the 7 Groups. Bangladesh leads in Trade & Investment, Women Development and Blue Economy Sectors; Bhutan leads in Environment & Climate Change and Mountain Economy Sectors; India leads in Security, Energy and Disaster Management Sectors; Myanmar leads in Agriculture & Food Security and Fisheries & Livestock Sectors; Nepal leads in Culture, Tourism, People-to-People Contact Forums and Poverty Alleviation Sectors; Sri Lanka leads in Science, Technology & Innovation, Health and Human Resource Development Sectors; and Thailand leads in Connectivity Sector. The Agenda of BIMSTEC has been developed with consensus amongst the member States and is fully aligned with UN Agenda 2030 of SDGs.

BIMSTEC has held numerous Summits of Heads of the Governments and Ministerial and Senior Officials Meetings, including Sectoral Ministerial and Senior Officials Meetings. There are numerous sectoral joint working groups, expert groups and their sub-groups to identify the areas of cooperation in various sectors and monitor their implementation. There are agreed Action Plans for cooperation in various Sectors, which are being implemented.

In order to institutionalize cooperation in various sectors, BIMSTEC has established Centres of Excellence such as BIMSTEC Centre for Weather and Climate and BIMSTEC Energy Centre, both in India. Further, BIMSTEC Cultural Industries Observatory has been set up in Paro, Bhutan, and the BIMSTEC Technology Transfer Facility is being set up in Colombo, Sri Lanka. 8 more Centres of Excellence are being set up in order to enhance regional cooperation in agriculture, culture and tourism, disaster management, sustainable maritime transport, skill development, tropical medicine, traditional medicine, Supreme Audit Institutions etc.

BIMSTEC has already concluded two Conventions: the BIMSTEC Convention on Cooperation in Combating International Terrorism, Transnational Organized Crime and Illicit Drug Trafficking, which has entered into force since March 2021, and the BIMSTEC Convention on Mutual Legal Assistance in Criminal Matters, which has not yet entered into force. 3 more Conventions on Extradition; Human Trafficking; and Transfer of Sentenced Persons are being concluded. The BIMSTEC Agreement on Maritime Transport Cooperation was signed in April 2025 and has entered into force for 4 member States. Besides, a number of MoUs and MoAs have also been concluded.

BIMSTEC has been seeking developmental partnerships with the non-members as well as the UN, International and Regional Organisations. It has signed MoUs for cooperation with ADB, IFPRI, IORA and UNODC. BIMSTEC has been engaged in forging cooperation with WB, WIPO, WHO, ITU, UNDRR, UNESCAP, UN Women, ISA and CDRI etc. BIMSTEC is open to engage in partnerships with other regional organizations as well as UN and International Organizations.

With measures being taken to reform and revitalize it, including through implementation of the recommendations contained in the Report of the Eminent Persons’ Group, BIMSTEC is poised to emerge as a dynamic and successful platform for forging regional cooperation and to play a crucial role in realizing security and sustainable development of its member States located in Bay of Bengal region. It is also emerging as a shining example of South-South cooperation in Indo-Pacific region.