Lok Sabha Question No. 463 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2017-02-06
Subject: BIMSTEC Meet
Ministry: COMMERCE AND INDUSTRY
Asked by: BALASUBRAMANIAM SENGUTTUVAN

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF COMMERCE & INDUSTRY (DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE)

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 463 TO BE ANSWERED ON 06 th  FEBRUARY, 2017

## BIMSTEC MEET

## 463.   SHRI B. SENGUTTUVAN:

Will the Minister of COMMERCE & INDUSTRY ( वािणÏय एवं उɮयोग मंत्री ) be pleased to state:

- (a) the details of the creation, members and the objectives of the Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Co-operation (BIMSTEC) and the manner in which the Government would help keep the influence of India in the region;
- (b) whether the Indian gambit to the BIMSTEC was well received by the Members and if so, the details thereof;
- (c) whether  the  BRICS'  outreach  to  the  BIMSTEC  during  the  recently  held  meeting  of  BRICS leaders in Goa was beneficial to India and if so, the details theroef; and
- (d) whether the recent Chinese offer of large quantum of funds to Bangladesh is likely to alter the country's equation with India and if so, the details thereof?

## ANSWER

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## THE MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF COMMERCE AND INDUSTRY (INDEPENDENT CHARGE) (SMT. NIRMALA SITHARAMAN)

- (a) The Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC)  is  a  regional  organization  comprising  seven  Member  States  namely Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Myanmar and Thailand. The regional group  acts  as  a  bridge  between  South  and  South  East  Asia  and  represents  a reinforcement of relations among these countries.

The  objective  of  building  such  an  alliance  was  to  harness  shared  and  accelerated growth through mutual cooperation in different areas of common interests by utilizing regional resources and geographical advantages. Unlike many other regional groupings,  BIMSTEC  is  a  sector-driven  cooperative  organization.  Starting  with  six sectors-including  trade,  technology,  energy,  transport,  tourism  and  fisheries-for sectoral  cooperation  in  the  late  1997,  it  expanded  to  embrace  nine  more  sectorsincluding agriculture, public health, poverty alleviation, counter-terrorism, environment, culture, people to people contact and climate change-in 2008.

BIMSTEC was created with objectives to create an enabling environment for rapid economic development through identification and implementation of specific cooperation  projects  in  the  sectors  of  trade,  investment  and  industry,  technology, human  recourse  development,  tourism,  agriculture,  energy,  and  infrastructure  and transportation  ;  through  joint  endeavours  and  active  collaboration,  provide  mutual assistance  in  the  form  of  training  and  research  facilities,  on  matters  of  common interest in the economic, social, technical and scientific fields.

- (b) &(c) Leaders of BIMSTEC Countries were the special invitees at the Goa BRICS Summit, held in October, 2016, under its customary Outreach Initiative. Prior to the BRICS-BIMSTEC Outreach Summit, the BIMSTEC Leaders met in a Retreat format. The BIMSTEC Leaders' Retreat was held in an informal setting, without aides or a fixed  agenda.  They  deliberated  on  Terrorism,  Climate  Change  and  Environment, Disaster  Management,  Connectivity, Agriculture  and  Food  Security,  Fisheries,  Blue Economy,  Energy,  Trade,  Technology,  Tourism,  Culture,  etc.  Subsequent  to  the BIMSTEC Leaders' Retreat, an Outcome Document capturing the deliberations of the meeting was released.

During the BRICS-BIMSTEC  Outreach Summit, Leaders appreciated India's initiative  and  the  opportunity  to  interact  between  the  two  groupings  of  emerging economies  and  developing  countries,  which  together  represent  half  the  world's population. They  highlighted  the  potential  for  cooperation  in  areas  such  as  counter terrorism,  trade,  energy,  investment  and  capital  flows,  environment,  technology, infrastructure  and  human  development  as  well  as  funding  by  the  BRICS  New Development Bank for BIMSTEC projects.

- (d) Prime  Ministers  of  India  and  Bangladesh  met  on  the  side-lines  of  the  BRICSBIMSTEC OUTREACH held in October last year. Both leaders reviewed the bilateral relations from all aspects. India's links with Bangladesh are civilizational, historical, cultural,  social  and  economic.  India  shares  very  cordial  and  friendly  relations  with Bangladesh  which  is  not  targeted  at  any  third  country. The  bilateral  cooperation between India and Bangladesh is multifaceted encompassing a wide range of areas, including  trade  and  investment,  security,  connectivity,  border  management,  water, power,  shipping,  development  cooperation,  people  to  people  exchanges,  human resource development, amongst others.

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