Bengal Initiative For Multi-Sectoral Technical And Economic Cooperation Research Articles

Tourism, Its Aspects and Enhancing Tourism in Nepal through Bay of Bengal Forum

Tourism is an emerging sector of Nepali economy that generates foreign exchange earnings and adds to the country's balance of payments. Nepal is a member of the Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC) since 2004. Nepal and BIMSTEC member states have historical, geographic, physical, cultural, economic/financial, environmental/natural, people to people, technological, professional and media (social or print) linkages. As BIMSTEC bridges South Asia to South East Asia, Nepal has enormous potentials of economic growth through tourism earning using BIMSTEC Mechanism. By branding of BIMSTEC tourism circuits and marketing tour packages in Europe, America, China, and other top tourist sending countries, both BIMSTEC region and Nepal can gain foreign exchange from tourism which can help them to prosper together.

Does public-private investment augment renewable energy consumption in BIMSTEC nations? Evidence from symmetric and asymmetric assessment

This study investigates the impact of public-private investment, globalization, and urbanization on the aggregation of renewable energy demand in the Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC) Nations from 1990 to 2021. Various econometric tools based on panel data analysis are employed to analyze the static properties of the variables using the CADF and CIPS unit root tests and examine the long-run relationship through panel cointegration with an error correction term. The study also employs the CS-ARDL approach to establish long-run and short-run coefficients. Additionally, a panel Granger causality test is conducted. Based on the findings of the primary assessment, the study reveals that the research units exhibit common dynamic properties, indicating the presence of cross-sectional dependency. The static test demonstrates that all variables become stationary after differencing them once. The panel cointegration test confirms a long-run relationship between the variables of interest. According to the coefficients estimated using CS-ARDL, the study concludes that renewable energy consumption has been positively and significantly influenced by all three explanatory variables: public-private investment, globalization, and urbanization. Furthermore, the causality assessment reveals evidence supporting the feedback hypothesis between renewable energy consumption, public-private investment, and globalization. Because of the positive and significant impact of public-private investment, globalization, and urbanization on renewable energy consumption, it may be beneficial to implement targeted policies and investments in these areas to encourage the adoption of renewable energy. Governments and private investors need to join forces to draw investments and create a beneficial atmosphere for renewable energy endeavors which can be achieved by focusing on inventive ways of financing and implementing regulatory frameworks that provide support.

Linking tourist's footprint and environmental tragedy through transportation, globalization and energy choice in BIMSTEC region: Directions for a sustainable solution using novel GMM-PVAR approach

The rising temperature in the world's atmosphere is an outcome strongly linked to man-made manufactured interventions. Recreational activities in the form of tourism are such interventions that can unleash multidimensional negative externalities if not regulated properly. The Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC) region has become one of the major hubs for recreational activities in the last few decades. However, the region's tourism-led environmental degradation has received scant attention in the literature. As such, this paper unveils how tourist footprint affects the region's environmental sustainability and explores potential solutions to encourage the tourism industry to be more pro-environmental. We have used the novel GMM-PVAR technique to assess how globalization, transportation, green energy, and economic growth have affected the tourism industry and carbon footprint in the BIMSTEC region from 1990 to 2019. We lean on the empirical outcomes to propose regional sustainable tourism development policies. The GMM-PVAR model indicates that renewable energy, economic growth, and the transportation sector's development positively affect the tourism industry's growth in the region. However, globalization and environmental degradation negatively influence tourists' arrival. Contrarily, transportation services, economic growth, and tourism boost the carbon footprint in the region. Although globalization and clean energy reduce carbon footprint, these indicators are insignificant, indicating that this region is still lagging in renewable energy generation and failed to reap the positive spillovers of globalization. Based on these outcomes, we propose that the region redesign its tourism industry to encourage eco-friendly tourism by leaning more on pro-environmental strategies (i.e., powering the tourism industry through the penetration of renewable energies) and tightening environmental regulations.

In the Age of Globalization 4.0: BIMSTEC, Sri Lanka, and Technology

The age of globalization ushered in by the fourth industrial revolution has completely transformed the way individuals in an economy operate and interact with one another. At the helm of this revolution lies technological innovation. The article tries to evaluate the progress made by member states of the Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Co-operation (BIMSTEC) with regard to technological enhancement. It also evaluates how Sri Lanka, which has been entrusted with the responsibility of leading the technological revolution in the region has progressed and what challenges lie ahead for the regional bloc. This article explores the importance of technology imports and the high digital skill levels in the workforce, and how these will be instrumental in the economic growth of nations. The last section discusses the gains that member states stand to make if they digitize their economies and parallelly establish necessary regulations.

BIMSTEC: An Engine of Promoting Multilateralism in the Bay of Bengal?

From ancient times, the Bay of Bengal has been considered as a crucial participant in world trade and politics. Its historical significance as a crucial part of the old Indian Ocean maritime route and its current relevance as a critical component of the Indo-Pacific economic zone has made it an important regional actor. Despite this, the international world has not fully recognized the region’s economic potential, resulting in its underdevelopment. Not until 1997, when the Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC) was founded, attempts were made to combat the region’s reputation as ‘incomplete’ and ‘inadequate’. From its formation, BIMSTEC has worked assiduously to advance regional multilateralism in every facet of collaboration. Throughout its 25 years of existence, BIMSTEC has surmounted several challenges and uncovered new paths for expansion. Yet, the resurgence of division and the emergence of new alliances in the Indo-Pacific region have dissuaded many significant organizations in the region. Thus, the rise of regionalism and multilateralism in the Bay of Bengal region now presents a new challenge. In modern international politics, the advent of powerful regional powers and many new entities has encouraged governments to adopt a “taking sides” strategy. In this scenario, BIMSTEC can function as a mediator for the parties’ harmonious cohabitation. BIMSTEC members may also take strength from one another during these difficult times. The study illuminates the measures used by BIMSTEC as well as the nations’ efforts to link and promote multilateralism in the area. The paper also emphasizes suggestions for improving multilateralism via BIMSTEC.

Regional Organizations and States in International Relations: A Study of India’s Approach Towards Regional Organizations

Regional organizations (ROs), a key component of the global order, have become a significant tool for achieving foreign policy objectives of the member countries. Amidst the prevailing politico-strategic environment, a speckled range of national interests of the regional states and non-regional states has motivated or compelled the states to create, collaborate and participate in the functioning of ROs. India is associated with those ROs that possess objectives convenient in pursuit of its national interests and also identical to its foreign policy targets. In this context, this article argues that India’s policy towards ROs is shaped by the Cold War and post-Cold War developments along with the emerging strategic and security environment in the twenty-first century. These developments have created a divergence or convergence of India’s preferences and beliefs with other countries and have determined its participation in the ROs. It is participating actively in the functioning of ROs in pursuit of its national interests in diverse arenas. The ROs, especially South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC), Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC), Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) and even European Union (EU) and Quadrilateral Security Dialogue (Quad) are the key instruments for India to achieve the objectives of respective Neighbourhood First Policy (NFP), Look East Policy (LEP), Act East Policy (AEP), Look North Policy (LNP), Connect Central Asia Policy (CCAP) and Indo-Pacific Vision (IPV) frameworks of its foreign policy towards South Asia, Southeast Asia, Central Asia, Indo-Pacific and the globe. Apart from economic, strategic and security cooperation in the regional context, the ROs can help India in bolstering its image and status as a key power in global affairs.

Enhancing maritime security in the Bay of Bengal: Resolution of Grey Areas between India, Bangladesh, and Myanmar

ABSTRACT Bangladesh’s initiation of arbitration proceedings separately against India and Myanmar, under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), resulted in the creation of a “grey area”, having overlapping continental shelf and exclusive economic zone rights, between India, Bangladesh, and Myanmar. There are several examples of cooperative frameworks for management of overlapping maritime claims areas around the world, but no such mechanism exists in South Asia. The resolution of the grey area remains an impediment towards ensuring collective maritime security and comprehensive development of the Bay of Bengal. Being the biggest nation in the region, and with its “Neighbourhood First” policy and its promotion of Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC) to harness shared and accelerated growth through mutual cooperation, India needs to take the lead in seeking a resolution of the grey area.

An Analysis of India’s Trade Flow with BIMSTEC nations- A Gravity Model Approach

At present, the Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC) represent 22 percent of the global population and carries immense economic promise, with a combined GDP worth $ 3.5 trillion (2018). BIMSTEC have India as the largest economy of the group followed by Bangladesh, Thailand, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Myanmar and Bhutan. The paper tries to examine the impact of determinants of trade, on trading pattern of India with the BIMSTEC nations, by employing an augmented gravity model on panel data, since its formation for the period of 22 years i.e., from 1997-2018. The paper tries to examine the India’s trade flow within BIMSTEC trading bloc by implying augmented gravity model followed by Egger (2000,2002), Baltagi et al. (2003) and Serlenga and Shin (2007). Several checks have been performed to imply the presence of serial correlation, heteroscedasticity and contemporaneous correlation in the panels. Many other preliminary tests have also been performed to know the crosssectional dependency, stationarity, panel co-integration and normality of variables. The simple panel OLS estimation technique has been used conduct Regression. The study finds out that Heckscher-Ohlin- Samuelson theorem explain the India’s pattern of trade with the bloc. The variables GDP, per capita GDP, Trade GDP ratio, common border and belonging to BIMSTEC has positive impact on the trade between the India and country j. While tax and distance are negatively correlated with total trade of the nations as per our expectations.

Publication analysis in Bay for Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation Nations

Background: Research output provides an insight into the development of the scientific capability of a country. Budget allocation for research and development (R&D) is directly proportional to the research output of a country. While developed countries spend a significant percentage of their GDP on R&D, developing countries do not have enough resources to invest in R&D. Countries in the Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC) Nations has received significantly less attention from outside the region in studying R&D and research publication scenario of the region. The research output of BIMSTEC countries was analyzed using various metrics in this paper. Methods: Data on citation per paper, Field Weight Citation Impact (FWCI), paper per researcher, collaborative publications, and output in top 10 percent journals was extracted from one of the largest abstract and citation database of peer-reviewed literature, Scopus and its affiliate SciVal, for a period of 6 years between 2012-2017. Percentage of R&D spend, researchers per million population, and total scientific output were extracted from World Bank data. Results: India and Thailand have a higher quantum of publications compared to other countries. Subjects like clinical, technology, Computer Science have a larger publication number as compared to other subject areas like Social Science, Arts, Education, Law, and Physiology. The researcher population and research spend of a nation have an evident implication on the publication though no direct relation can be derived. Conclusion: Huge disparities in terms of percentage of research spent, research output, papers per researcher, and output with national and international authorship differ for countries. Higher research spent and publication count are not positively correlated with better FWCI.

Exploring the nexus between agriculture and greenhouse gas emissions in BIMSTEC region: The role of renewable energy and human capital as moderators

Agriculture and the food system emit a considerable amount of Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions in the atmosphere. Hence, current researchers, policymakers, and other stakeholders are calling for improving the environmental performance of agriculture. This study utilizes the countries of The Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC) to investigate the effect of agriculture value-added, pesticide use, renewable energy adoption, human capital, and economic growth on greenhouse gas emissions. The moderation effect of renewable energy use and human capital is also introduced to see whether they can offset agriculture's emissions in these BIMSTEC economies. Having reported a state-of-the-art literature review, the econometric procedure applies the second-generation unit root tests, panel cointegration and panel quantile regression for three preferred model specifications. The result from the Panel quantile regression method reveals a U-shaped relationship between agriculture value-added and greenhouse gas emissions, suggesting the significance of a small farming system. Human capital has a negative effect, whereas pesticide use has a positive effect on greenhouse gas emissions. Furthermore, the moderation effect of human capital and pesticide use suggests that human capital is not significant enough to offset the effect of pesticide use on the greenhouse gas emissions, whereas the interaction of renewable and pesticide use suggests that renewable energy adoption in the agriculture sector can mitigate the effect of pesticide use on GHG emissions. Finally, the conclusions of the study support the achievement of few sustainable development goals.

Publication analysis in Bay for Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation Nations

Background: Research output provides an insight into the development of the scientific capability of a country. Budget allocation for research and development (R&D) is directly proportional to the research output of a country. While developed countries spend a significant percentage of their GDP on R&D, developing countries do not have enough resources to invest in R&D. Countries in the Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC) Nations has received significantly less attention from outside the region in studying R&D and research publication scenario of the region. The research output of BIMSTEC countries was analyzed using various metrics in this paper. Methods: Data on citation per paper, Field Weight Citation Impact (FWCI), paper per researcher, collaborative publications, and output in top 10 percent journals was extracted from one of the largest abstract and citation database of peer-reviewed literature, Scopus and its affiliate SciVal, for a period of 6 years between 2012-2017. Percentage of R&D spend, researchers per million population, and total scientific output were extracted from World Bank data. Results: India and Thailand have a higher quantum of publications compared to other countries. Subjects like clinical, technology, Computer Science have a larger publication number as compared to other subject areas like Social Science, Arts, Education, Law, and Physiology. The researcher population and research spend of a nation have an evident implication on the publication though no direct relation can be derived. Conclusion: Huge disparities in terms of percentage of research spent, research output, papers per researcher, and output with national and international authorship differ for countries. Higher research spent and publication count are not positively correlated with better FWCI.

PROMOTING INTERNATIONAL COLLABORATION THROUGH TRAINING AND EDUCATION IN SPACE TECHNOLOGY APPLICATIONS AND ADVANCES AMONG BIMSTEC COUNTRIES – A GOVERNMENT OF INDIA INITIATIVE

Abstract. India is one of the top space-faring nations in the world, which not only to build satellites and launches them using indigenously developed launch vehicles but also spearheads the use of space technology for many applications at the national and international level. Training, education and capacity building (TECB) are important components in promoting the use of space technology, thereby benefitting the society. North Eastern Space Applications Centre (NESAC) is one of many institutions under the umbrella of Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), Department of Space (DOS) which is responsible for promoting TECB at National level. ISRO / DOS also supports TECB at an International level through many initiatives such as IIRS – ITC JEP, UN-CSSTEAP, CEOS, UNSPIDER, UN-FAO, WMO, Commonwealth, and BIMSTEC etc. NESAC established in 2000, initiated capacity building and spearheaded Outreach programs from 2019 in the North East Region of India. Prime Minister of India announced in the plenary meeting of BIMSTEC(Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation) Summit at Kathmandu, Nepal in August 2018, recognizing NESAC to conduct space technology training programs of two weeks and 3 months for BIMSTEC Countries every year for the next five years with full financial support from Government of India. The first two week training program on “capacity building on the earth observation applications and research” was successfully conducted for 24 participants, four participants each representing Bangladesh, Bhutan, Thailand, Myanmar, Nepal, and Sri Lanka. The participants are from User Departments, Science and Technology Ministries, Space Organizations and Academia and Research Institutions. The training benefitted the participants from state of the art training facilities and experienced faculties from NESAC/ISRO/Academia from across India. The summary of feedback from the participants (excellent – 57%, good – 40%, average – 2.6% and poor – 0.4%) indicates that the course is very much useful as it has enhanced their knowledge in earth observation, geospatial analysis capabilities that will be put into use on their return. The training and capacity building has opened new vistas of cooperation and possible collaboration between BIMSTEC countries ranging from availing satellite data, expansion and access to data sharing portals, creating knowledge network to promote young researchers and expert sharing within the region, further to expand the capacity building by initiating distance learning programs, taking up joint research and application projects, etc. The rich experience of conducting a unique program, one of its kind and detailed feedback and possible expansion of BIMSTEC programs in the future is presented in the paper.

Development of BIMSTEC Free Trade Area for Thailand in Indo-Pacific

To develop a policy for creation of economic value and utilise the development of Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC) free trade area for Thailand, two research tools are adopted in this article. The first one is based on the Global Trade Analysis Project (GTAP) model, adopted as a tool to explore quantitative impacts from the implementation of free trade area. Due to the limitations of the model, however, we have adopted a complementing qualitative analytical framework to ensure that the research must be as comprehensive as possible in every aspect. The qualitative analytical framework chosen in this article is called PEST analysis. Having completed field research, in-depth interviews, focus group meetings and model studies, this article concludes that BIMSTEC is a large-scale market with high purchasing power and growth rate as well as a great source of vast natural and human resources. It is situated not far from Thailand, and at the same time, its social and cultural conditions are very close to those of Thailand’s. It concludes that a stronger BIMSTEC is an essential foundation of Indo-Pacific. JEL Codes: F13, F 15

Reinvigoration of BIMSTEC and India’s Economic, Strategic and Security Concerns

This article contends that India’s efforts for the reinvigoration of the Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC) are the result of an amalgam of its Act East and Neighbourhood First policies’ objectives. Since 2014, India has been trying to rejuvenate the BIMSTEC to exploit the untapped trade opportunities, promote energy and food security and also boost the development of its North Eastern region by enhancing infrastructural connectivity with South East Asian countries and promoting greater economic integration in the Bay of Bengal region. Its strategic interests and security concerns, especially to build the pressure on Pakistan, counter China’s forays into its strategic backyard and ensure the security of the North Eastern region, have also resurged India’s interests in the revival of BIMSTEC. Like South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC), there are some hurdles in the way of BIMSTEC, for instance its image of an India-dominated bloc, India’s bilateral differences with other BIMSTEC countries from South Asia, especially with Bangladesh and Nepal, and bilateral disputes between other member countries, particularly Bangladesh and Myanmar and Thailand and Myanmar.

The Development Trajectories of Thailand and Sri Lanka: A Comparative Analysis

The raison d’être to compare the development trajectories of two Asian economies, viz. Thailand and Sri Lanka, stems from the fact that both countries are in the middle-income level. Hence, a comparative analysis of the development trajectories of the two countries during 2009–2019, both being neighbours with religious and cultural affinities, as well as members in Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC), has been undertaken. The key objective is to decipher key policy lessons for Sri Lanka (which has been in the lower middle-income group) from Thailand’s development path (which has placed the latter in the upper middle-income group). This article also elucidates the key drivers of economic growth along with the challenges that the two countries must contend with, to attain higher growth levels. Economic drivers, such as tourism, foreign direct investment (FDI) policies and political stability are concomitant for their development.

Summer monsoon climate simulations over BIMSTEC countries using RegCM4 regional climate model

Regional climate models are useful by downscaling from global climate model simulations for climate studies and climate applications at a regional scale. The South Asian monsoon region is one of the most challenging regions towards understanding the monsoon variability by implementing various climate simulations. A model version of the RegCM4 regional climate model provided by the International Centre for Theoretical Physics (ICTP) is used in this study to simulate the climate of Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC) countries (India, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Nepal, Myanmar, Thailand and Sri Lanka) during the periods 1985–2000, which shows the present-day climate simulations. The simulation is carried out with RegCM4.3 with the lateral boundary forcing provided by the European Center for Medium Range Weather Forecast Reanalysis (Era-Interim) at 25 km horizontal resolution. The convective scheme Grell with closures Arakawa–Schubert is investigated during the south-west monsoon seasons (June–September, JJAS). The results indicate that the JJAS surface mean temperature has a large cold bias of 2–\(6{^{\circ }}\hbox {C}\) over the coastal regions near India, Myanmar, Thailand, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh when compared with the Climate Research Unit (CRU) observed dataset. The model is able to produce the spatial rainfall distribution pattern of the observed CRU and Global Precipitation Climatology Project (GPCP) averaged seasonal rainfall in most of the land regions over the BIMSTEC countries during this period, but with underestimation. Further, the south-westerly prevailing wind pattern at 850 hPa pressure level is also well captured by the model but with a higher intensity over Sri Lanka, Western India, Nepal and Thailand. The westerly is stronger over the Bay of Bengal in the model simulations than the observed Era-Reanalysis data sets obtained from ECMWF. Also, the model is able to capture the mean monsoon circulation features. This model may be used for a few of the BIMSTEC regions for climate study applications.

The Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC) and its Potential Opportunities for Sri Lanka

The emergence of regionalism and regional integration must be placed in a broader historical perspective. Regionalism became a prominent feature of world politics during the 1940s and 1950s concurring with extensive moves towards European integration. The process of regionalisation successively manifested itself through the formation of congruent regional blocs among which most important one is the European Economic Community (EEC) therefore, the concept of ‘regionalism’ had been interpreted in European sense and understanding. It is the endurance and achievement of this regional bloc that led to a surge of regionalism among developing countries in the course of time. The Regional cooperation has become increasingly important to sustainable growth and development among South Asian and Southeast Asian countries. Countries in these two regions have been realising that their interaction with each other through unilateral reforms to enhance and economic efficiency, as well as via regional approaches to deepening economic integration, for example, through bilateral and regional agreements. Thus economic another sectorial integration has been an important determinant of economic success and a key ingredient in the recipe for future growth in South Asia and Southeast Asia. Regional cooperation in Asia gained momentum with the establishment of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) in 1967, the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) in 1985 and the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) in 1989. At present, the sub-regional groupings have become a key defining feature of Asian regionalism and BIMSTEC is one sub-regional grouping formed in 1997 for fulfilling common goals of the member states. BIMSTEC has an advantage of combining five geographically adjacent countries of SAARC with two ASEAN members and thus provides a gigantic scope for regional integration and prosperity. Sri Lanka is a member of the SAARC and has played a vital role in promoting regional economic and cultural cooperation. Even though, SAARC is sunk down mainly due to India’s ascendancy and India-Pakistan struggles. Sri Lanka believes that becoming member of ASEAN would give Sri Lanka an assurance against unwelcomed Indian Interference. The biggest gain Sri Lanka stands to benefit from an ASEAN membership is easier access to trading and investment opportunities in the region. Seeking membership of ASEAN is not an impossible task for Sri Lanka; however, it will have to think about the fact that it is geographically not a part of Southeast Asia, which is one major though not untouchable precondition - due to these dilemmas Sri Lanka strategically like to engage with other South Asian Countries. Therefore, Sri Lanka considered BIMSTEC as an opportunity to engage with the economically thriving Southeast Asian countries, especially after several failed attempts to join ASEAN in the decade prior to the establishment of BIMSTEC.

India BIMSTEC Economic Cooperation: Potential and Prospects

The Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC) was established in 1997 is a unique sub-regional initiative in Asia. It combines the south and South-Eas tAsia with five countries of SAARC and two countries of ASEAN. BIMSTEC is a sector-driven cooperative organisation with key areas of economic cooperation include trade, investment, regional value chains, energy, connectivity, technology, management and capacity building, people to people contact, among others. Even after two decades of existence, BIMSTEC achieved limited progress as India the largest member of the group showed little interest in it. But the failure of SAARC as an effective sub-regional economic integration in Asia and the incorrigible differences between India and Pakistan, the two largest economies of SAARC led to the rethinking and resurrection of BIMSTEC in the recent past. India's strategic interests in the Himalayan, Bay of Bengal and Mekong sub-regions have grown over the years and the expansionist tendencies of China in these regions led to India's renewed engagements with BIMSTEC. In this context, the paper looks into the trade relation between India and BIMSTEC countries and identified the unexplored trade potential and possible areas of cooperation between India and BIMSTEC countries. The trade impact of the likely India BIMSTEC Regional TradeAgreement (RTA) is ascertained using partial equilibrium simulation model. Indicators such as Trade Intensity Index (TII) and Revealed Comparative Advantage (RCA) showed that there is trade complementary existing between India and BIMSTEC countries and the possibility of enhanced economic cooperation between them. The SMART simulation showed that there is trade creation from a potential India BIMSTEC FTA for the participating countries. The simulation analysis also revealed that the total trade effect of India BIMSTEC RTA was 2.369 billion US dollars, total welfare was 267.044 million dollars and the trade creation was 412.2 thousand US dollars.

India's Trade with the Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic-Cooperation (BIMSTEC) – A Study

India's Trade with the Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic-Cooperation (BIMSTEC) – A Study

Transforming Eastern South Asia: Relevance of BIMSTEC

Of late the Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC) is receiving sincere attention from its member countries as an organisation that has the potenti...