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BONDS OF THE BAY
What the article is about?
- Talks about the potential of BIMSTEC in enhancing regional connectivity and interaction.
Syllabus: GS-II International relations, Regional Groupings and interactions
Refer snippets:- 29 and 30 March, 2 April 2022
BIMSTEC:
- The celebrations to mark the 25th year of BIMSTEC have been accompanied by the announcement of several new initiatives in the recent 5th summit.
- 3 important outcomes:
- Expanding the grouping’s agenda,
- deepening cooperation between the member countries and
- planning systematically for consistency and coherence.
- The charter finalised last week articulates the purpose, principles and legal standing of the organisation.
- It also delineates the process to admit new members – this requires the consensus of the members.
- A similar procedure will be adopted for increasing the number of observer countries of the organisation.
- One important provision in the charter is to keep regular meetings on track and provide enough scope to the BIMSTEC Permanent Working Committee to keep the process energised.
- The summit also succeeded in creating mechanisms to deepen cooperation.
- Amongst the important decisions is the one related to the BIMSTEC Master Plan for Transport Connectivity.
- The council could also play a role in the projects being planned in the region.
- Digitisation has enhanced cooperation in customs regulations and facilitated and improved cargo clearance procedures.
- Similarly, the MoU for legal assistance in criminal matters and additional MoUs for mutual cooperation between diplomatic academics and training institutes would help in creating an ecosystem of deeper knowledge-related cooperation.
- The technology transfer facility proposed in Colombo is likely to augment these efforts.
- Establishing an Eminent Persons’ Group (EPG) for formulating a vision document for the region will help in articulating the aspirations of the collective.
- EPGs have been quite useful in the EU and ASEAN.
- India will provide a $3 million grant to the BIMSTEC Centre for Weather and Climate, promote collaboration between industries and start-ups, and launch programmes that will help in the adoption of international standards and norms.
- Delhi has also suggested a regional value chain based agricultural trade analysis – this will be conducted by the RIS.
- The Asian Development Bank and the New Delhi-based ICRIER have stewarded awareness programmes on trade facilitating measures in the member countries.
- Besides economic links, the Bay of Bengal countries shares a cultural and civilisational legacy.
