Showing the way to South Asian cooperation

by B.C. Sharma

While it is a truism that the integration of the economies of South Asia will bring prosperity to the poverty-stricken region, the road to cooperation is long and hard if the fate of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) is any indication.

Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina inaugurating the BIMSTEC Secretariat

Held hostage to the never-ending India-Pakistan conflict and fears about the real intentions of India (the perceived regional hegemon), SAARC never got off the ground although it has been in existence for three decades.

But there is light at the end of the tunnel in the form of BIMSTEC, the Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical Cooperation. Established in 1997, BIMSTEC initially brought together India, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, and Thailand. Later it included Bhutan, Nepal, and Myanmar also.

BIMSTEC is not hostage to the India-Pakistan conflict because Pakistan is not a member, not being a Bay of Bengal littoral state. Further, the inclusion of South East Asian states has reduced the threat from India, the hegemon in South Asia.

"BIMSTEC also has the unique distinction of being the only regional organisation which connects South Asia and South East Asia, providing a platform to rediscover the common heritage that links the two regions," points out Ambassador Sumith Nakandala, Secretary General of BIMSTEC based in Dhaka, Bangladesh.

A member of the Sri Lankan Foreign Service with experience of working in India and Bangladesh, Ambassador Nakandala, is a firm believer in, and a dedicated practitioner of, multifaceted regional cooperation.

"Cross country and cross-cultural cooperation is in my bone marrow," he told this writer when he was in Colombo last week for consultations with the Government of Sri Lanka. Whether as Sri Lankan Deputy High Commissioner in Chennai or as Ambassador in Kathmandu, Nakandala has sought areas of cooperation, reaching out to a wide cross section of the host country.

Priority for Infrastructure

One of the major obstacles to reaping benefits from regional cooperation and integration is the lack of infrastructure in the region and among them is totally inadequate connectivity.

"Roads are a priority in the BIMSTEC region because 70 percent of trThe Asian Development Bank (ADB) did a study in 2014. Known as the BTILS report, it identified a number of projects which needed to be taken up. The Long List had 116 projects costing around US$ 45-50 billion and the Short List had 65 projects costing around US$ 15 billion.

The ADB's Short List, to be implemented between 2014 and 2020, mentions 16 projects in Bangladesh, 4 in Bhutan, 17 in India, 9 in Myanmar, 6 in Nepal, 5 in Sri Lanka and 8 in Thailand.

"BIMSTEC is trying hard to facilitate trade by urging reduction or elimination of non-tariff barriers such as lengthy administrative procedures, unnecessary documentation requirements, lack of automation, and lack of harmonization in trade regulations.

Taking intra-South Asia trade alone, there could be a 60 per cent increase if trade facilitation, including infrastructure improvement, is brought about. And South Asia's trade with the rest of the globe could go up by 30 percent," Nakandala said.

Although BIMSTEC was established in 1997, progress was slow till the establishment of a Secretariat with a Secretary General in September 2014.

"Since the establishment of the Secretariat, there has been enormous cooperation, especially in the areas of counter terrorism and transnational crime.

Grid Connection

This year, there had been three sub group meetings on narcotics trafficking, financing of terrorism and intelligence sharing. There was a Task Force on Grid Connection which met this year. We have almost finalized the BIMSTEC Convention on Legal Assistance in Criminal Matters. And Sri Lanka has promised to set up a Technology Transfer Facility," Nakandala said.

As expected, trade facilitation, the most difficult to achieve, is yet to show progress.

"Though real integration will come only through trade links, economic and nationalistic considerations still prevent trade relations from blossoming. BIMSTEC's job is to get member states to address these sensitive issues. However, the BIMSTEC Trade Negotiating Committee met on 19 occasions and the 20 th meeting is scheduled later this year. We are hopeful that concrete decisions will emerge from this conclave," the Secretary General said.BIMSTEC is going about it step by step in the area of trade facilitation.

"The focus is now on cooperation in traditional medicine. A key meeting on this will be held in Bangkok in July. BIMSTEC region is rich in biodiversity which is a bedrock of traditional medical practices," Nakandala said.

Step by step

A great believer in the value of "People-to-People" contacts, the Secretary General said that besides striving for "State-to-State" contacts and cooperation, "People-to-People" contacts should also be encouraged in equal measure, because People to People contacts and cooperation will automatically lead to State to State contacts and cooperation.

European example

"Political commitment at the top most level is an essential requirement for international cooperation. BIMSTEC leaders expressed such a commitment at the third summit held at Nay Pyi Taw, Myanmar in March 2014. Besides, the practitioners of regional cooperation at all levels should show understanding, passion and commitment. Everybody has to put his or her shoulder to the wheel because regional cooperation is the only way forward for the people of the region," Nakandala stressed.

Stressing the need to take one step at a time, and grow in stages, Nakandala quoted Professor Richard Baldwin, an authority in regional integration.

Baldwin had said: "Europe's founding fathers did not start with grand designs. No one in the 1940s, for example, would have thought that starting with coal and steel was the obvious way forward.

Europe's founders exploited windows of opportunity-situations where the alignment of national interests permitted establishment of long lasting institutions that in turn fostered discussion and eventual adoption of deeper economic integration."

To this Nakandala adds: "We have such windows of opportunity in the Bay of Bengal area. The sooner we exploit these, the better for all us and the world at large."