BIMSTEC: India’s Strategic Gateway to the Indo-Pacific

The Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC), founded in 1997, brings together seven nations—India, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Myanmar, and Thailand—united by the Bay of Bengal and shared strategic interests. Designed to foster regional cooperation across sectors like trade, connectivity, energy, and security, BIMSTEC offers a vital link between South and Southeast Asia. As SAARC continues to be diplomatically frozen—reflecting India’s deliberate distancing due to Pakistan’s politicization of the forum through issues like Kashmir and terrorism—BIMSTEC is increasingly seen as India’s preferred vehicle for regional cooperation

From Dormancy to Dynamism: BIMSTEC Summits So Far

BIMSTEC’s first summit in 2004 launched the vision for economic and technical collaboration. The 2008 Delhi summit nudged the bloc toward connectivity and anti-terrorism cooperation, but little materialized in practice. A turning point came with the 2018 Kathmandu summit, which emphasized coastal shipping, disaster management, and grid interconnection. However, institutional lethargy coupled with the disruptions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic and prolonged lockdowns significantly delayed progress on key deliverables.

The fifth summit in 2022, hosted virtually by Sri Lanka, was a landmark moment. It resulted in the adoption of the BIMSTEC Charter—providing legal and institutional structure—and streamlined the 14 working areas into seven core sectors, with each country taking lead in one. These structural changes laid the groundwork for a more focused and functional BIMSTEC.

6th BIMSTEC Summit: A Sharper Indian Focus

Held on April 4, 2025, in Bangkok, the 6th BIMSTEC Summit marked a new chapter, with high-level participation from all member states. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi attended the summit physically and delivered a strong message highlighting India’s vision for BIMSTEC in the Indo-Pacific context. He described BIMSTEC as the “natural engine for regional cooperation” and underscored India’s commitment to transforming it into a “vehicle of prosperity and connectivity.”

PM Modi emphasized five key focus areas: connectivity, trade and economic integration, maritime cooperation, disaster management, and people-to-people exchanges.

PM Modi stated:

“BIMSTEC is not just a regional organization but a bridge of trust and prosperity between South and Southeast Asia. India is fully committed to making BIMSTEC a dynamic engine of growth and stability.”

The summit also witnessed progress on maritime security cooperation, digital public infrastructure sharing, and advancing the BIMSTEC Master Plan on Transport Connectivity. With Thailand as Chair, the summit had a distinctly ASEAN-style pragmatism, which India welcomed.

The Bangkok Vision 2030: India’s Strategic Anchor in BIMSTEC

The adoption of the Bangkok Vision 2030 at the 6th BIMSTEC Summit marks a watershed moment for regional cooperation, cementing India’s leadership in shaping a prosperous, resilient, and open Indo-Pacific. This first-ever long-term strategic document outlines actionable priorities: sustainable development, digital and physical connectivity, climate resilience, regional trade, and security cooperation.

India played a pivotal role in drafting the vision, leveraging diplomatic backchanneling and pre-summit negotiations to align it closely with its Act East Policy and Indo-Pacific Oceans Initiative (IPOI). By emphasizing maritime security and disaster resilience, the vision directly addresses India’s strategic imperatives—including countering China’s growing influence in the Bay of Bengal and fostering trust-based partnerships across littoral nations.

The document’s focus on digital infrastructure and trade facilitation also mirrors India’s larger push for a rules-based regional order, ensuring that BIMSTEC evolves as a counterweight to unilateralism in the Indo-Pacific and promotes inclusive regional growth.

India's Calculated Hesitation on BIMSTEC FTA

While India is a strong political backer of BIMSTEC, its hesitation on the economic front remains clear. The proposed BIMSTEC FTA could unlock major opportunities—by creating an integrated market across South and Southeast Asia, increasing intra-regional trade, and strengthening supply chains.

However, India has consistently been wary of multilateral trade pacts. Its experience with the India-ASEAN FTA led to trade deficits and dumping concerns. India walked out of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) in 2019 and opted out of the trade pillar of the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework (IPEF) for similar reasons. The fear of Chinese goods being re-routed via Thailand or Myanmar under lax rules of origin haunts Indian trade strategists. Until robust frameworks and enforcement mechanisms are established, India is likely to pursue a guarded approach to the FTA.

India’s Soft Power Diplomacy: Culture, Code, and Connectivity

India’s growing influence in BIMSTEC isn’t limited to hard infrastructure or trade—it is also being driven by cultural diplomacy and digital innovation. As part of the “people-to-people contact” pillar in the Bangkok Vision 2030, India has actively promoted Buddhist tourism circuits connecting historical and spiritual sites across Sri Lanka, Nepal, Myanmar, and Thailand. These efforts tap into shared civilizational heritage to foster cultural unity and regional tourism.

At the same time, India is emerging as a provider of digital public goods in the region. The export of India’s Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI)—such as the UPI payment system, CoWIN vaccination platform, and Aadhaar stack—offers BIMSTEC nations low-cost, scalable, and secure digital solutions. These tools enhance financial inclusion, public health delivery, and governance capabilities. As a soft-power tool, DPI allows India to promote a trust-based, tech-led regional integration that stands in contrast to dependency-heavy models of digital cooperation.

Strategic Significance for India: BIMSTEC vs. Chinese Influence

For India, BIMSTEC serves not just as a regional grouping but as a geostrategic counterweight to China. As China deepens its footprint in Myanmar, Sri Lanka, and Nepal through the Belt and Road Initiative, India sees BIMSTEC as a platform to project influence and provide smaller neighbours with an alternative model of development—one based on partnership, transparency, and democratic values.

BIMSTEC also complements India’s Act East Policy, allowing it to align its South Asia and Southeast Asia policies into a cohesive Indo-Pacific vision. As Prime Minister Modi highlighted, BIMSTEC can serve as the anchor of regional cooperation in the Bay of Bengal—an increasingly strategic sub-region within the broader Indo-Pacific architecture—as global attention pivots eastward.

SAARC vs. BIMSTEC: Diverging Futures

Calls for SAARC’s revival resurfaced recently, most notably from Maldives President Mohamed Muizzu and Pakistan’s UN envoy Munir Akram. Yet, India remains unconvinced. The SAARC framework has been in limbo since 2016, when India refused to attend the Islamabad summit following the Uri attack. Pakistan’s obstructionist stance and political friction have rendered the platform ineffective.

In contrast, BIMSTEC is issue-driven, not identity-driven. It avoids contentious political disputes and focuses on functional cooperation. With Pakistan excluded, it offers a cleaner space for India to lead without being constantly entangled in bilateral deadlocks.

A Vision Beyond the Bay: Can History Guide the Future?

As Bangladesh assumes the Chair of BIMSTEC in 2025, questions arise about the group’s next evolution. One emerging idea is expanding BIMSTEC to include Laos, Cambodia, and Vietnam—nations with growing economic relevance and historical ties to India.

“If the Cholas ruled the Bay with ships and shrines, can India lead the region again—with trade, trust, and technology?”

This isn't just geopolitics—it’s civilizational recall. The Chola Empire once projected power across the Bay of Bengal, building temples in Cambodia, maintaining ties with Thailand, and influencing trade networks across Southeast Asia. India's cultural diplomacy, infrastructure outreach, and digital public goods today can echo that legacy—not in conquest, but in cooperation.

If BIMSTEC’s momentum is maintained, it could grow beyond a regional bloc into a core Indo-Pacific platform, with India as its central pillar—anchoring the Bay of Bengal into a shared future of connectivity, prosperity, and strategic balance.