In RIS latest Policy Brief No. 155 (July 2026), Promoting Regional Cooperation through BIMSTEC, published by the Research and Information System for Developing Countries (RIS), Uttam Kumar Shahi, Director at the BIMSTEC Secretariat in Dhaka, examines the evolution of the Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC) as a regional organisation linking South Asia and Southeast Asia. Shahi assesses the organisation’s progress, institutional constraints, and future prospects.
In the brief Shahi argues that BIMSTEC has matured into a practical platform for regional cooperation by concentrating on functional areas such as trade, connectivity, security, energy, climate change, disaster management, agriculture, health, and people-to-people exchanges. Rather than engaging contentious political questions, the organisation seeks to advance development through sector-driven cooperation and implementation-oriented initiatives.
The brief situates BIMSTEC within the strategic importance of the Bay of Bengal, arguing that the region’s shared challenges, including climate change, natural disasters, food security, connectivity gaps, and transnational security threats, are transboundary and cannot be addressed by any member acting alone. Shahi contends that BIMSTEC’s value lies in complementing bilateral relations while bridging South Asia and Southeast Asia through shared geography, historical and civilisational linkages, and common cultural heritage. He points to recent institutional milestones as evidence of the organisation’s consolidation: the BIMSTEC Charter, adopted at the fifth summit in Colombo in March 2022, and the Bangkok Vision 2030 together with the report of the Eminent Persons Group (EPG), both adopted at the sixth summit in Bangkok in April 2025.
Shahi reviews progress across BIMSTEC’s priority sectors. He records continuing negotiations under the 2004 Framework Agreement on the BIMSTEC Free Trade Area, where six working groups are still settling the constituent agreements on goods, services, investment, dispute settlement, customs cooperation, and trade facilitation; implementation of the Master Plan for Transport Connectivity adopted at the fifth summit; the Agreement on Maritime Transport Cooperation signed in April 2025; and progress on grid interconnection, where the master plan is being finalised with Asian Development Bank (ADB) support. He also notes disaster management exercises and India’s move to establish a BIMSTEC Centre of Excellence in that field, the Plan of Action on Fisheries and Livestock adopted at the third agricultural ministerial in Kathmandu in April 2025, and cooperation in health, science and technology, and traditional medicine.
The brief also reviews BIMSTEC’s institutional infrastructure. Four centres are in place or being established: the BIMSTEC Centre for Weather and Climate and the BIMSTEC Energy Centre, both in India, the Cultural Industries Observatory in Bhutan, and the Technology Transfer Facility in Sri Lanka, the latter two still becoming operational. Alongside these are initiatives on tourism circuits, youth exchanges, a parliamentarians’ forum under formation, and policy dialogue through the BIMSTEC Network of Policy Think Tanks, which draws one institution from each member state.
Shahi also identifies several constraints facing the organisation. Multi-layered decision-making and lengthy approval and reporting procedures slow the pace of work; summits, ministerial meetings, and sectoral mechanisms are not convened as regularly as intended; implementation of master plans depends on institutional and technical capacities that differ across member states; and BIMSTEC-related matters compete for attention within national ministries. Diverse levels of economic development produce differing priorities and expectations, making convergence more difficult. Shahi nonetheless argues that BIMSTEC is well positioned to emerge as a leading regional organisation because it enjoys the political support of its member states, focuses on practical cooperation, and avoids divisive political issues, allowing it to remain largely insulated from political developments within member states. The EPG recommendations, whose implementation has already begun, are presented as the principal instrument of institutional reform.
Shahi concludes that realising the group’s potential requires accelerating trade agreements and strengthening transport connectivity to support economic growth. While BIMSTEC’s cooperative framework offers considerable potential, developmental and implementation challenges remain, and regional integration has made steady rather than dramatic progress over nearly three decades.
