Institutionalising maritime cooperation within BIMSTEC is key to a 'secure, stable and open' Bay of Bengal. Analyse the challenges and prospects.

The Andaman and Nicobar Command (ANC) is India's only Operational Quad Service Command. It hosted the maiden BIMSTEC Maritime Security Exercise (30 Oct–3 Nov 2026) as a step towards "institutionalising maritime engagement" for a "secure, stable and open" Bay of Bengal [1]. The groundwork is promising, but the drill is ahead of the rulebook.

Charter in force (2024) → Maritime Transport Agreement (2025)
   → 4th Experts Group on Maritime Security (Nov 2025) → Maiden exercise (2026)

Fig: BIMSTEC's emerging security track [2][10][3][1]

Challenges

• Rules lag practice: At its 4th meeting the Experts Group was still finalising draft guiding principles for maritime law-enforcement agencies [3][4]. There is no agreed SOP for sharing data or handing over a suspect vessel.
• Undefined, crime-centric threats: The release mentions only "common maritime challenges" [1]. Yet vessel seizures of 1,156 kg and 371 kg of methamphetamine show the Bay is a narcotics route [5]. The Standing Committee on External Affairs (2025) flagged piracy, narcotics and China's growing influence, and called current efforts "insufficient" [6].
• Sea–law disconnect: The BIMSTEC Convention on terrorism, organised crime and drug trafficking (in force 2021) and the Mutual Legal Assistance Convention (2022) [7] are not yet linked to the naval drills.
• Uneven stakes: Nepal and Bhutan are landlocked, so they have little to gain from a naval track.
• Weak follow-through: Progress on BIMSTEC's FTA and energy links has been "painfully slow" [8]. India's use of regional forums is "fragmented", with no inter-ministerial mechanism to coordinate it [6].

Prospects

• Only working regional forum: SAARC has held no summit since 2016 [9]. BIMSTEC does not include Pakistan, so India can move ahead.
• Institutional base: The Charter turned BIMSTEC into a regional organisation [2]. The Maritime Transport Agreement created a Joint Shipping Coordination Committee [10].
• Economic logic: Secure sea lanes support shipping cooperation and the Bangkok Vision 2030 [10].
• Neutral framing: The "open, stable" language names no rival, which makes it easier for smaller members to join [1].
• ANC as hub: The ANC has hosted joint exercises before, such as Ex KAVACH [11].

The exercise is a foundation, not yet a security community. The next steps are:

• turn the guidelines into SOPs;
• bring customs and police into drills so the 2021 Convention can be put into practice [7];
• add joint patrols and maritime domain awareness;
• set up a central MEA coordination mechanism that reviews outcomes regularly, as the Committee recommended [6].

With these steps, BIMSTEC can carry forward Neighbourhood First, Act East and the SAGAR/MAHASAGAR vision of shared security in a truly secure, stable and open Bay.