The machinery of SAARC as a regional body has thrown concerns on its sustenance amidst disturbed Indo-Pakistan relationship.

The machinery of SAARC as a regional body has thrown concerns on its sustenance amidst disturbed Indo-Pakistan relationship. (E.g. 2016 SAARC summit postponed and got cancelled, 2022 summit is yet to happen.) → South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation SARC is inactivity and growing and widening regional interest gave birth to Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multisectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation BIMSTEC in Bangkok summit. → Although it origin point to the regional body vacuum created by SAARC, BIMSTEC has come a long way to assert its identity ex-Recent

BIMSTEC summit at Colombo, BIMSTEC charter was signed which gave legitimacy of group as a regional group instead as sub-regional. → Its membership - Myanmar, Thailand especially deem it as a bridge between South Asia and ASEAN BIMSTEC's significance: → Absence of major discrepancies among members give possibility of continued collaboration → the efforts towards inter-group FTA give hope to its extension to better relations with other ASEAN nations → Recent pronouncement of intentions to deepen the relationship hint towards the mutual trust and advocacy that can be

Carried towards expanding. → The progress for recent summit achieved the 7+ core areas of cooperation assigning 1 domain to each country. → India, an aspiring net security provider and energy bank has much to contribute in this and ensure a peaceful Indian Ocean - instrumental to ASEAN trade. However: → India's exit from RCEP, growing Chinese influence on Myanmar, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and other ASEAN countries pose problems. → It's time for Indian side to capitalize on post-pandemic veilumking to channelize the supply chains to the region and BIMSTEC hold a pivotal role in this endeavour.

— SRIGIRIRAJU V P S SAIKRISHNA · AIR 125