With the operationalisation of its Charter, BIMSTEC is evolving from a grouping into a regional security community. Discuss with reference to the recent BIMSTEC Home Ministers' meeting.

The BIMSTEC Charter came into force on 20 May 2024 and turned the 1997 Bay of Bengal grouping into a formal regional organisation [2]. The first-ever BIMSTEC Home Ministers' Meeting (New Delhi, 13 October 2026) gave it working security machinery between ministries. BIMSTEC is therefore a security community taking shape, though it is not yet a mature one [1].

From grouping to organisation: the institutional base

• The Charter grouped cooperation into 7 pillars. India leads Security, which covers counter-terrorism and transnational crime, disaster management and energy security [2].
• A legal base already exists: the 2009 Convention on Combating International Terrorism, Transnational Organised Crime and Illicit Drug Trafficking (in force 2021) [3] and the 2022 Convention on Mutual Legal Assistance in Criminal Matters [2].

Home Ministers' meeting: signs of a security community

• Shared view of threats: under the "Whole of Region" approach, the security of one member strengthens the whole region [1].
• New instruments: a Convention against Trafficking in Persons, a Plan of Action on Drug Control and an MoU on capacity building against money laundering and terror financing [1].
• Zero tolerance for terrorism: members are to deny terrorists safe havens, recruitment and funds, and to share intelligence and use extradition [1].
• Drug–terror nexus: drug trafficking was called "death trafficking", and diversion of precursor chemicals and dark-web deals were flagged [1].
• Non-traditional security: a Disaster Management Centre at Jamnagar is proposed, alongside the weather and climate centre (BCWC) at Noida [1][2].
• Human security: in March 2025, 283 Indians were repatriated from Myanmar after being lured by fake job offers [4]. Cases like this need standing joint protocols for rescuing victims.

Limits: a community still in the making

• Slow ratification: the 2009 convention took 12 years to come into force [3]. The 2026 instruments still need ratification by every member.
• Sovereignty caveat: mutual legal assistance and extradition work only "in accordance with national laws" [1].
• Asymmetry: India hosts most BIMSTEC centres [2], so smaller members may see the agenda as India-centric.
• Weak economic glue: the 3rd Summit set an end-2014 deadline for the trade-in-goods agreement [5], and the FTA is still not concluded.

The Charter gave BIMSTEC legal form, and the Home Ministers' meeting gave it working security content, moving members from shared threats to shared instruments. To mature, the Dhaka Secretariat should set ratification deadlines, members should make victim-rescue protocols permanent, and the FTA should advance alongside security cooperation. If BIMSTEC delivers this inclusively, it can anchor Neighbourhood First and Act East and advance SDG 16 (peace, justice and strong institutions).