BIMSTEC is the convergence point of 'Neighbourhood First', 'Act East' and MAHASAGAR. Elucidate.

BIMSTEC brings together five South Asian and two South-East Asian states around the Bay of Bengal. It covers 1.7 billion people (22% of humanity), and its members have a combined GDP above US$ 5 trillion [1]. MEA itself calls it the meeting point of three of India's outward-facing policies [1]: one platform serving three strategic aims.

Neighbourhood First: continental anchor

• Bangladesh, Bhutan, Nepal, Sri Lanka and Myanmar are India's immediate neighbours. BIMSTEC gives them a working regional forum while SAARC remains stalled.
• Capacity-building offers at the 6th Summit (2025): the BODHI programme for human resources, a Digital Public Infrastructure pilot study and Centres of Excellence [1].
• India hosts BIMSTEC institutions: the Centre for Weather and Climate (Noida) and the Energy Centre (Bengaluru) [2].

Act East: bridge to ASEAN

• Myanmar and Thailand are India's land bridge to South-East Asia. Thailand leads the Connectivity pillar [2].
• The Kaladan multimodal project and the India–Myanmar–Thailand Trilateral Highway link the North-East to ASEAN markets.
• Bangkok Vision 2030 and the Maritime Transport Agreement (2025) deepen economic integration [1].

MAHASAGAR: maritime security and growth

• MAHASAGAR (Mutual and Holistic Advancement for Security and Growth Across Regions) takes SAGAR's Indian Ocean vision further.
• India leads the Security pillar, which covers counter-terrorism and transnational crime, disaster management and energy security [2].
• The first BIMSTEC Home Ministers' Meeting (New Delhi, October 2026) takes up terrorism, narcotics, trafficking and cyber threats [3].
• A blue economy sub-sector and an MoU with IORA link the Bay to the wider Indian Ocean [1].

Neighbourhood First (South Asia) ──┐
Act East (ASEAN bridge) ───────────┼──► BIMSTEC: Bay of Bengal hub
MAHASAGAR (maritime security) ─────┘

Fig: Three policies, one regional platform

Constraints on convergence

• Consensus decision-making slows outcomes, and the Extradition Convention is still under discussion [1].
• A parliamentary committee called India's use of forums like BIMSTEC "fragmented" and asked for better coordination between ministries [4].

BIMSTEC is where India's neighbourhood ties, its economic push eastwards and its maritime vision overlap, both on the map and in institutions. Concluding the pending conventions, completing connectivity projects and coordinating across government, as the Standing Committee urged [4], can turn this overlap into results. That would advance a secure and prosperous Bay of Bengal in the spirit of SDG 17 (partnerships for the goals).