India seeks to cement cooperation among BIMSTEC countries

India today called for the early conclusion of a free trade agreement among member countries of the Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Co-operation (BIMSTEC) for trade in goods and a gradual extension of the FTA to investment and trade in services.

Addressing the third summit of the BIMSTEC, a group of seven countries - India, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Myanmar, Bhutan and Nepal - prime minister Manmohan Singh said trade and economic cooperation should figure high on the group's list of priorities.

''Most of us here are connected with each other through one or more regional economic arrangements and it should not be difficult for us to conclude one for BIMSTEC,'' he said.

Even as countries of the region are enjoying the benefits of energy cooperation by getting increasingly linked by national and regional energy grids, Manmohan Singh said the countries must also connect each other through transmission, highways and gas and oil pipelines, while also examining opportunities for cooperation in renewable energy sources.

In this respect, he said, a BIMSTEC Energy Centre is planned in Bengaluru, which will play a key role in planning energy security in the region.

Connectivity – physical and digital – is the key to that vision and can be a driver of cooperation and integration in the region, the prime minister said, adding, ''Yet another facet of connectivity is tourism, which is a powerful source of economic development and a bridge between peoples and cultures.''

''To promote both BIMSTEC tourism packages and intra-BIMSTEC travel, let us declare 2015 as a Year of BIMSTEC Tourism,'' he added.

Ahead of the BIMSTEC summit, a three-day meet of tourism ministers of member countries in New Delhi had decided to set up a "tourism fund'' for joint publicity and promotion of tourist destinations of the BIMSTEC-member countries.

They have also planned to establish a Tourism Information Centre in India for producing and updating publicity and collateral material.

The proposed fund will have an initial annual contribution of $10,000 by each BIMSTEC country while the Asian Development Bank will provide technical and financial support to help BIMSTEC develop and promote the tourism sector in South Asia.

India, he said, is working with other BIMSTEC members to improve physical connectivity through various projects such as the India-Myanmar-Thailand Trilateral Highway, the Kaladan Multimodal Transit Transport Project, the Asian Highway Network, the ASEAN Master Plan for Connectivity and others.

He said, India will also soon launch a direct shipping line to Myanmar that will enhance the region's growing maritime links.

Since 2007, India's National Tsunami Early Warning Centre has been providing early warnings to Indian Ocean Rim countries on a regular basis. The group will sign a memorandum of association for a BIMSTEC Centre for Weather and Climate in Noida near Delhi, which will become functional with immediate effect.

India, he said, is also prepared to work with BIMSTEC partners in application of space science in areas such as resource management and economic development.

''We should also deepen our cooperation in areas that are critical for development in each of our countries, such as agriculture, rural development, public health, technology, human resource development and others,'' Manmohan Singh said.

India, he said, had tripled the number of scholarships for students of BIMSTEC countries announced at the New Delhi Summit in 2008. He also renewed an offer of 30 Ayush scholarships to BIMSTEC students to study traditional medicine in India.

''Like our prosperity, our security, too, is indivisible – whether it is the security of sea lanes of communication in our region or the persisting challenges of terrorism and transnational crimes. The nature of the evolving threat of terrorism in the BIMSTEC region has imparted greater urgency for stronger cooperation to counter it,'' the prime minister said.

As part of this effort, he sought early ratification of the Convention on Cooperation in Combating International Terrorism, Trans-National Organised Crime and Illicit Drug Trafficking and early signing of the BIMSTEC Convention on Mutual Legal Assistance in Criminal Matters.

''We should also commence negotiations on a BIMSTEC Convention on Extradition,'' he added.

The seven members of the BIMSTEC - India, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Myanmar, Bhutan and Nepal - bring together 1.5 billion people, which is over 20 per cent of the world population, and a GDP of over $2.5 trillion.

Nepal will take over from Myanmar as the next chair of BIMSTEC for the next few years.