Transnational organized crime and terrorism in the Bay of Bengal region need collective responses. Discuss the legal and institutional frameworks available under BIMSTEC and their gaps.

Narcotics, terrorism, trafficking and illicit finance move across the Bay of Bengal's porous land and sea borders, so no single state can handle them alone. BIMSTEC, whose Security pillar is led by India [3], now has a growing toolkit against these threats. India hosting the first BIMSTEC Home Ministers' Meeting (13 October 2026) shows its value, but the toolkit is still incomplete [1].

Legal Frameworks

• BIMSTEC Charter: adopted in 2022 and in force since 20 May 2024. It turned the grouping into a regional organisation with legal personality [2].
• Convention on Combating International Terrorism, Transnational Organized Crime and Illicit Drug Trafficking: in force since 2021. It is the legal basis for intelligence-sharing and joint action [2].
• Convention on Mutual Legal Assistance in Criminal Matters (signed 2022): covers collecting evidence and serving court papers across borders [2].

Institutional Frameworks

• Security pillar (lead: India): its sub-sectors include Counter-Terrorism and Transnational Crime (CTTC) [3].
• NSA-level mechanism: set up formally at the 2016 Goa Retreat. It is backed by a Track 1.5 Security Dialogue [2].
• Home Ministers' mechanism: its agenda covers terrorism, narcotics, radicalisation, trafficking, illicit financial flows and cyber threats [1][2].
• Dhaka Secretariat and the 2025 Rules of Procedure for BIMSTEC mechanisms [2].

Gaps

• Missing instruments: the Extradition and Transfer of Sentenced Persons Conventions are still under discussion. The anti-trafficking MoU is only at the "draft agreed" stage [2]. Fugitives can escape through gaps between separate bilateral deals.
• Signed but not working: the MLA Convention is signed but does not yet work in practice.
• Consensus rule: one reluctant member can water down any decision [2].
• Source-state problem: civil conflict in Myanmar leaves Golden Triangle drug production beyond any government's control. Trafficking routes increasingly pass through countries outside BIMSTEC.
• Overlapping forums and weak coordination at home: a Parliamentary Standing Committee (2025) called India's use of these forums "fragmented". It found no dedicated inter-ministerial mechanism [4]. In BIMSTEC, MEA is the nodal ministry while MHA runs the security track.

BIMSTEC has built more security architecture since 2021 than SAARC ever did, but it does not yet have the legal powers to enforce it. The way forward is:

• a deadline for signing the Extradition Convention;
• quick signature of the trafficking MoU;
• a standing link between the Home Ministers' track and the Dhaka Secretariat;
• an inter-ministerial task force, as Parliament recommended [4];
• outreach beyond the seven members through BIMSTEC's MoU with IORA [2].

These steps would make the Bay of Bengal a zone of shared security, in line with SDG 16.4 (reduce illicit financial and arms flows and combat organised crime).