The maiden BIMSTEC Maritime Security Exercise marks BIMSTEC's evolution from a connectivity platform to a security community. Critically examine.

BIMSTEC began in 1997 as a sectoral economic grouping. It became a formal regional organisation when its Charter entered into force on 20 May 2024 [1]. Its maiden Maritime Security Exercise ran from 30 Oct to 3 Nov 2026 and was hosted by the Andaman and Nicobar Command (ANC). It adds a naval track to BIMSTEC's connectivity agenda [2]. It marks the beginning of a security community, not its arrival.

Evidence of evolution

• Institutional sequencing: the Charter came first (2024), then the Maritime Transport Cooperation Agreement (2025) [1]. Next, the 4th Experts Group on Maritime Security discussed the feasibility of joint exercises (Nov 2025) [3]. The exercise followed in 2026.
• Interoperability and trust: a harbour phase of professional and cultural exchanges was followed by a sea phase of coordinated deployments [2]. The stated aims include information sharing and collective responses to maritime threats [4].
• Political anchoring: the exercise is rooted in the Delhi Declaration and was announced by the PM at the 6th Summit [4].
• Legal scaffolding: the Convention on Combating International Terrorism, Transnational Organised Crime and Illicit Drug Trafficking came into force in 2021. The Mutual Legal Assistance Convention was signed in 2022 [5].
• Strategic geography: the ANC is India's only Operational Quad Service Command. Hosting the exercise there makes the A&N Islands a hub for regional cooperation [2].

Limits: why "security community" is premature

• Drill ahead of rulebook: the draft Guiding Principles for maritime law-enforcement agencies were still being finalised [6]. There is no agreed SOP for sharing information or handing over a suspect vessel.
• Threats unnamed: the release mentions only "common maritime challenges" [2]. The real threats are criminal. For example, 371 kg and 1,156 kg of methamphetamine were seized from two vessels in the Bay [7]. The exercise was not linked to the 2021 Convention, so a seizure at sea does not automatically lead to prosecution.
• Uneven membership: Nepal and Bhutan are landlocked, so the naval track rests on the five coastal members.
• Fragmented coordination: the Standing Committee on External Affairs (2025) found India's use of BIMSTEC, IORA and the Quad "fragmented". It also found no dedicated inter-ministerial mechanism, and called current efforts against narcotics, piracy and China's influence "insufficient" [8].
• One-off risk: the release speaks only of a "foundation". It does not commit to holding the exercise every year [2].

So the exercise is a real but early shift: it builds trust, not yet joint enforcement. The way forward is to:

• hold the exercise every year;
• turn the guiding principles into SOPs for sharing ship-tracking data;
• include customs and police officers so the 2021 Convention can be applied at sea;
• set up a central MEA coordination mechanism that checks outcomes regularly, as the Committee recommended [8].

With these steps, BIMSTEC can move from sailing together to securing together. That would deliver a "secure, stable and open" Bay of Bengal [2], in line with India's SAGAR/MAHASAGAR vision [8].