Background

The emergence of regional economic cooperation among neighbouring countries is becoming a dominant feature of world economy. It means that globalisation has been escorted by regionalisation within different geographic regions of the world. It encouraged different countries and regions of the world specifically the countries of South-East Asia and North-East Asia to create collaborative ties with India. It results the formation of some sub-regional groupings which involves India as a member country.

In June 1997, a new sub-regional group called Bangladesh, India, Sri Lanka, Thailand – Economic Cooperation (BIST-EC) was established.The grouping expanded withthe addition of Myanmar in August 1997, and of Bhutan and Nepal in February 2004, after that it came to be known as Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC). The aim behind the formation of BIMSTEC was to create an enabling environment for rapid economic development, accelerate social progress in the sub-region and maintain close and beneficial cooperation with existing international and regional organizations. BIMSTEC was initiated with the goal to combine the ‘Look West’ policy of Thailand and ASEAN with the ‘Look East’ policy of India and South Asia. Initiated in 1991, India’s Look East Policy marked a shift in India’s foreign policy.

This forum has identified 14 areas for focused cooperation where a member country takes lead: India is the lead country for Transport and Communication, Tourism, Environment and Natural Disaster Management and Counter Terrorism and Transnational Crime. Bangladesh is for Trade and Investment. Myanmar is for Energy and Agriculture. Sri Lanka is for Technology. Thailand is for Fisheries, People to People contact and Public Health. Nepal is for Poverty Alleviation. Bhutan is for Culture.It is thus evident that the BIMSTECs agenda for cooperation is quite elaborate and comprehensive.

The Bangladesh, China, India and Myanmar (BCIM) forum for regional cooperation, earlier known as the Kunming Initiative, is a Track II[1]initiative, which came into existence in 1999 and comprisesBangladesh, China, India and Myanmar. It advocates sub-regional cooperation on infrastructure development, enhancing economic integration and people-to-people contact by the member countries. This sub-region comprises of Bangladesh, Myanmar, North eastern states of India and southern provinces of China.The BCIM is conceptualised on the basis of Growth Zones, which involves co