As Prime Minister Modi wrapped up the BIMSTEC Summit 2025, India’s World spoke with Ambassador Riva Ganguly Das, former Secretary (East) in the Ministry of External Affairs (retired in 2021), to discuss the summit and its impact on regional and global dynamics.
Throughout her distinguished career, Amb. Das has held several key diplomatic positions. She served as High Commissioner to Bangladesh and as Ambassador to Romania, Albania, and Moldova. She was also Consul General in Shanghai and New York; and the Alternate Permanent Representative of India to the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons in The Hague. Additionally, she served as Director General of the Indian Council for Cultural Relations.
Varuna: As the recent BIMSTEC Summit concluded in optimism, what direction should the organisation take in the coming years? What specific actions would you recommend to ensure it delivers tangible benefits to its people by 2027, marking its 30th anniversary?
Amb. Das: The recently concluded BIMSTEC summit was very significant. It introduced the Bangkok Vision 2030, aimed at building something called ‘PRO’ by 2030. This is an abbreviated form, where P stands for Prosperity, R for Resilience, and O for Openness.
As the Thai Prime Minister explained, prosperity hinges on finalizing the long-pending Free Trade Agreement (FTA). This agreement is essential to unlocking the region’s full trade and economic potential. This includes the importance of connectivity, including the IMT highway and BIMSTEC’s master connectivity plan.
Digital connectivity is another key area, especially with member countries enhancing their technological capacities and exploring opportunities in artificial intelligence, etc.
As far as resilience is concerned, this region is very vulnerable to climate change, air pollution, and pandemics. So, there is definitely room for everybody to work together. We saw Thailand announced a desire to set up a tropical medical excellence centre. India is talking about a disaster management centre. So, together with all these initiatives, BIMSTEC is developing a coherent long-term strategy, marking a shift toward a more proactive and integrated approach.
This is perhaps for the first time that BIMSTEC has a long-term vision of how it wants to move forward. So, things are looking good for BIMSTEC and it is going to do better in the coming years. Of course, the Asian Development Bank (ADB) helps a lot in terms of funding but now BIMSTEC has a charter, and it works in a very dynamic way, so I am hopeful that more funding will come up.
Varuna: What are some parameters of success for BIMSTEC and how would you describe its current vision?
Amb. Das: BIMSTEC was established in 1997, and it’s now entering its 28th year. A lot of people say that it has not achieved much, partly because it hasn’t received much attention—mostly because there’s no controversy surrounding it. BIMSTEC focuses purely on economic growth, economic prosperity, and regional cooperation, and for various reasons, because the region has its own challenges, it has worked a little slowly.
However, there are a few things that make us very hopeful. First, the adoption of the BIMSTEC Charter at the recent virtual summit hosted by Sri Lanka is a major milestone. This was the first summit held after the adoption of the Charter, and the first in-person meeting since the previous one was virtual. The establishment of the Charter is a very important development because it gives BIMSTEC legal status, allowing it to enter into MOUs and agreements with other international bodies. It also enhances BIMSTEC’s standing with the United Nations (and its associated parties) and thus, in a sense, there will be more room for cooperation with other multilateral and regional organizations, including access to various funding options So, that’s a very positive development.
Secondly, BIMSTEC now has a functioning Secretariat and a Secretary General, with directors from all member countries. The organization has also finalized its rules of procedure and accepted the recommendations of its Eminent Persons Group. Overall, BIMSTEC has learned from its past and is now streamlining its operations to focus on key priority areas—this is a sign of progress.
Third, important agreements have come into force, such as the BIMSTEC Convention on Cooperation in Combating International Terrorism, Transnational Organized Crime, and Illicit Drug Trafficking. Implementation is the next step, and it’s crucial for the region. I see it from this point of view that sometimes we cannot cooperate in a bilateral framework, this regional framework is extremely important.
Similarly, the BIMSTEC Convention on Mutual Legal Assistance in Criminal Matters is vital, especially given the porous borders in Southeast Asia and with Myanmar. There are also MOUs on technical cooperation. At the latest summit, an agreement on maritime transport was reached, which is significant—it will open new trade routes and create economic opportunities.
India has been a major player in the region, and its global and regional standing shapes its relationship with BIMSTEC. India has been politically very supportive of BIMSTEC. Most people feel that the BIMSTEC mini-summit—held on the margins of the 2016 BRICS Summit—was a major turning point. It gave BIMSTEC the political momentum it needed, and India demonstrated strong commitment to the organization.
Varuna: In which areas has BIMSTEC made the most progress, and what factors have contributed to that success? How can India further collaborate with BIMSTEC?
Amb Das: PM Modi has suggested a 20-point agenda, which is quite comprehensive. BIMSTEC can develop and adopt this. One significant area would be digital platforms. PM Modi has offered the UPI system and other Indian digital platforms for BIMSTEC countries to use. He’s already suggested holding a BIMSTEC business summit annually.
Since this BIMSTEC happened right after the earthquake in Thailand and Myanmar, a lot of time was spent on disaster resilience. India is a first responder in these cases, and we can do a lot in that regard.
India also plays a vital role in two other areas. The first is connectivity. Although the India–Myanmar–Thailand (IMT) highway is a trilateral initiative and not officially part of BIMSTEC, it has seen some interest from other member countries like Bangladesh, which has expressed willingness to join in the past. Interestingly, both the ASEAN Master Plan on Connectivity and the BIMSTEC Master Plan on Transport Connectivity emerged around the same time. India has also proposed extending connectivity to Laos, Cambodia, and Vietnam, indicating a broader regional vision.
Of course, sceptics would say that IMT highway has faced delays and has been in the works for a long time. But the trilateral highway, which is moving toward three countries, was never going to be completed within two or three years. Progress has been further slowed by Myanmar’s ongoing political turmoil, which has hampered construction in some key segments. Nevertheless, despite current diplomatic tensions, we have has made substantial progress in enhancing connectivity with Bangladesh.
The second major area is energy connectivity. All BIMSTEC documents talk about energy exchange and cooperation. Here again, at a bilateral and a trilateral level, we already possess the entire architecture for exporting of energy. For instance, Nepal is currently selling 40 megawatts of electricity to Bangladesh using Indian transmission grids. This sets an example of how regional energy cooperation can function.
So, digital connectivity, physical connectivity, and energy collaboration are three particularly promising areas. These sectors hold long-term potential to impact the region’s economic growth.
Varuna: As BIMSTEC works toward enhancing trade, infrastructure, and security, what are two key challenges its member states currently face?
Amb Das: So, BIMSTEC has, over the years, suffered from two challenges.
The first is its structure and the way decision-making takes place. It is a very slow process. All decisions have to be approved by every member state, and that means it is a slow process. However, BIMSTEC is addressing this through initiatives like the Eminent Persons Group meetings and other mechanisms aimed at streamlining operations.
The second challenge is severe resource constraints. BIMSTEC is not a resource-rich organization, which limits its flexibility. You can come up with many ideas and projects, but without the necessary funding, it’s difficult to move forward with implementation.
For instance, the BIMSTEC master plan on connectivity has a projected expenditure of USD 124 billion for 267 projects. Of course, nobody is going to shell out on hundreds and hundreds of projects. However, I feel the BIMSTEC Master Plan is important as it can allow for smaller projects to be picked up and implemented. If two or three countries are interested, they can collaborate and execute those specific initiatives.
Finally, a persistent challenge in any multilateral or plurilateral organization is the impact of bilateral relations. If two member countries have strained ties, it can influence the overall dynamics of the organization. Fortunately, our relations are good in this region despite ups and downs. For example, the meeting between PM Modi and Bangladesh PM Yunus shows that cooperation continues. Still, bilateral tensions always pose a potential challenge to collective efforts.
Varuna: Thailand has evolved from an agricultural economy to a manufacturing powerhouse in Southeast Asia and is now focusing on innovation and green industries. Are there lessons India can draw from Thailand’s development journey?
Amb. Das: A lot of it is about mutual learning—there’s certainly room for us to learn from each other. There is room for others to learn from us. But we have to also accept that all countries have their own peculiar starting point, economic base, their fundamental strengths and weaknesses. So, they have their own growth trajectory, shaped by their specific challenges and circumstances.
From that perspective, India can certainly learn from the experience of other mainstream countries, and Thailand has been a fabulous success story. So, there is always room for learning.
Varuna: In light of the current wave of deglobalization and increasing protectionism, what role do you see regional organizations like BIMSTEC playing in the future?
Amb Das: Experts, academics, and think tanks are all extremely busy trying to analyze how the tariff war will impact. From what I understand, I don’t think any study has been done on how, at the macro and micro level, this will have an impact. Because even though the US is calling it reciprocal, it is not. The impact of a flat tariff rate can vary widely across different products—and can sometimes even hurt the implementing country’s own economy.
In this context, organizations like BIMSTEC become increasingly relevant. We are looking at a very economically dynamic region with a growing middle class and significant purchasing power—a major market. So here, there is a lot of scope for us to work together. Currently, intra-regional trade within BIMSTEC is about 6%. It’s actually an improvement when compared to SAARC’s 5%, and BIMSTEC achieved this growth within just two decades. There is potential there and, of course, if we can build resilient supply chains within the region, BIMSTEC could help member countries weather global economic turbulence more effectively.
