How BIMSTEC Can Build a New South Asian Regional Order?: The Hindu Editorial Analysis

In this article ”How BIMSTEC Can Build a New South Asian Regional Order?” we present an analysis of today’s the hindu editorial for both UPSC Prelims and Mains Examination.

Why BIMSTEC in News?

December 8 is commemorated as SAARC Charter Day. But, SAARC has failed abjectly in accomplishing most of its objectives. So, BIMSTEC is gaining more and more importance in Building a New South Asian Regional Order.

On what basis we can say that SAARC has failed?

• South Asia continues to be an extremely poor and least integrated region in the world.
• The intraregional trade and investment in South Asia are very low when compared to other regions such as the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) and Sub-Saharan Africa.
• Pakistan has adopted an obstructionist attitude within SAARC by repeatedly blocking several vital initiatives such as the motor vehicles agreement, aimed at bolstering regional connectivity.
• Deepening hostility between India and Pakistan has made matters worse.
• Since 2014, no SAARC summit has taken place leaving the organisation rudderless, and practically dead.

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Why Regionalism is Important?

• While bilateralism is undoubtedly important, it can at best complement, not substitute, regional or multilateral efforts.
• Regionalism has brought immense success in other parts such as East Asia and Africa.
• So, Regionalism can deliver prosperity in the South Asian region too, especially because multilateralism is weakening.

What is the concept of a new regional economic order?

Looking at ASEAN’s spectacular success in regional integration, international lawyers Julien Chaisse and Pasha L. Hsieh have developed the concept of a new regional economic order — a process through which developing countries search for a trade-development model, based on incrementalism and flexibility; this is different from the neoliberal model laid down by the Washington Consensus.

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How BIMSTEC Can Build a New South Asian Regional Order?

In the current scenario, this is too idealistic to revive SAARC. So, the next best scenario is to look at other regional instruments such as the Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral, Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC).

Know about BIMSTEC

• The full form of BIMSTEC is: Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral, Technical and Economic Cooperation.
• BIMSTEC is an intergovernmental organisation established in 1997.
• BIMSTEC comprises five South Asian nations (Bangladesh, Bhutan, Nepal, India and Sri Lanka) and two ASEAN countries (Myanmar and Thailand).
• Importantly, Pakistan is not a BIMSTEC member.

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Is India Ready to Move Away From SAARC to BIMSTEC?

In recent years, India seems to have moved its diplomatic energy away from SAARC to BIMSTEC. This resulted in BIMSTEC, after 25 years, finally adopting its Charter earlier this year.

How BIMSTEC Charter better than the SAARC Charter?

• The BIMSTEC Charter is significantly better than the SAARC Charter.
• For instance, unlike the SAARC Charter, Article 6 of the BIMSTEC Charter talks about the ‘Admission of new members’ to the group. This paves the way for the admission of countries such as the Maldives.
• Notwithstanding the improvements, the BIMSTEC Charter, to boost economic integration, does not contain the flexible participation scheme of the kind present in the ASEAN Charter.
• This flexible scheme, also known as the ‘ASEAN Minus X’ formula, allows two or more ASEAN members to initiate negotiations for economic commitments.
• Thus, no country enjoys veto power to thwart economic integration between willing countries.
• Given the experience of SAARC, where Pakistan routinely vetoes several regional integration initiatives, it is surprising that BIMSTEC does not contain such a flexible participation scheme.
• A flexible ‘BIMSTEC Minus X’ formula might have allowed India and Bangladesh or India and Thailand to conduct their ongoing bilateral free trade agreement (FTA) negotiations under the broader BIMSTEC umbrella.
• This would have eventually strengthened BIMSTEC by enabling the gradual and incremental expansion of these binding commitments to other members.

What Should Be Way Forward?

• BIMSTEC should not end up as another SAARC. For this, its member countries should raise the stakes.
• A high-quality FTA offering deep economic integration — something that Prime Minister Narendra Modi also advocated at the last BIMSTEC ministerial meeting — would be an ideal step.
• Likewise, India should explore legal ways to move successful SAARC institutions such as SAU to BIMSTEC.
• These steps will give stronger roots to BIMSTEC and enable erecting a new South Asian regional order based on incrementalism and flexibility, ushering in prosperity and peace in the region.

Conclusion

BIMSTEC can provide a new narrative in South Asia to give a boost to India’s ‘neighbourhood first’ policy and with that India can successfully use the instrument of bilateralism over regionalism to pursue its interests.

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FAQs

Q.  SAARC Charter Day falls on which date?

Ans. December 8 is commemorated as SAARC Charter Day.

Q. What is the full form of BIMSTEC?

Ans. The full form of BIMSTEC is: Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral, Technical and Economic Cooperation.

Q. What is the concept of a new regional economic order?

Ans. International lawyers Julien Chaisse and Pasha L. Hsieh have developed the concept of a new regional economic order — a process through which developing countries search for a trade-development model, based on incrementalism and flexibility.

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(Recent Editorial Analysis by our team at Adda247)

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