Bimstec

Bimstec is an important overlay to the neighbourhood policy. India has practised a protectionist trade policy for decades, ensuring that its Bay of Bengal neighbours have tended to look elsewhere for their external economic relations. Bimstec’s policy past has been as awkward and unmemorable as its name implies. Over the coming years, it must be transformed into a genuine free trade and investment agreement. It should be seen as a test of India’s ambitions to be a leading power. If India cannot harness the Bay of Bengal region firmly to its own trajectory, it can hardly aspire to have a lasting influence on any other part of the world.
Thanking you so much.