Extraordinary And Plenipotentiary Diplomatist July 19 Edition .

SPOTLIGHT centrality, the region remains largely on the sidelines of key global developments. Similarly, the member states of BIMSTEC have pursued diﬀ erent political and socio-economic models. For instance, India followed protectionism; Thailand welcomed liberal market reforms and regional integration with its neighbours to the south and east. While New Delhi adopted a non-aligned path and insulated its immediate periphery from Cold War competition, Bangkok chose to ally with the United States and develop under the protective umbrella of the Southeast Asia Treaty Organization (SEATO). Similarly, the region is also infected by different complexities like nontraditional security threats, such as traﬃ cking of narcotics, weapons, and people; the illegal exploitation of natural resources; refugee flows; rebel insurgencies and terrorist groups; and natural disasters. Before increasing connectivity, the member countries have to prepare themselves to deal with these problems. Moreover, like SAARC, the progress of BIMSTEC is also at a snail’s pace. It took 17 years for the organization to come with a permanent secretariat, located in Dhaka. Only four summits have been held so far in the last two decades. Most importantly, it has failed to come with a charter. Way Forward In order to meet these challenges, there is an immediate need to empower the BIMSTEC secretariat with greater human and ﬁ nancial resources to proactively drive the organization’s agenda. This would be possible only when the member countries provide greater autonomy to the organization. Similarly, the Secretariat should work to revive the initial enthusiasm that drove the initiative by holding high-level meetings regularly. In 2017, the ministerial and senior oﬃ cial level meetings were held after the gap of three years. A new secretary general was appointed in August 2017 which added new vigour to the organization. In 2017, the seven member states pledged to work collectively towards making BIMSTEC stronger, more eﬀ ective, and result oriented. They emphasized that their geographical contiguity, abundant natural and human resources, rich historical linkages and shared cultural heritage provide BIMSTEC with the ideal platform to promote peace, stability and prosperity in our region. Due to the convergence of the national interest of the member countries of BIMSTEC, there is greater interest in empowering the Bay of Bengal initiative for enhanced trade and connectivity in the region. BIMSTEC should give high priority to enhance connectivity and develop world-class infrastructure for greater regional trade. They should emphasize more on connectivity with Bhutan, Nepal and the Northeastern states of India. India, being a greater beneﬁ ciary with greater economic leverage, should play an important role by benevolently contributing more in strengthening the organization without aﬀ ecting the interests of other member states. The member states should push for multilateral institutions like the Asian Development Bank (ADB) or the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB). During the Senior Oﬃ cials Meeting of BIMSTEC member countries held in Kathmandu in August 2018, the member states responded positively on Nepal’s proposal of setting up BIMSTEC Development Fund and BIMSTEC Infrastructure Bank to implement various infrastructure projects that can enhance economic cooperation and connectivity.  * Author is Senior Fellow, Institute of Peace and Confl ict Studies, New Delhi 28 • Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary Diplomatist • Vol 7 • Issue 7 • July 2019, Noida

Extraordinary And Plenipotentiary Diplomatist July 19 Edition . | Página 28