By inviting leaders from the BIMSTEC countries, at the swearing in ceremony Prime Minister of India seeks to strengthen India’s neighbourhood and the Indian diaspora across the world. Discuss (200 Words)
Refer - The Indian Express
Enrich the answer from other sources, if the question demands.
K. V. A 6 years
Pls review
IAS Parliament 6 years
Good answer. Keep Writing.
IAS Parliament 6 years
KEY POINTS
· This time, SAARC’s exclusion is clearly aimed at keeping Pakistan out of New Delhi’s engagement with its neighbours.
· By inviting the leader from Kyrgyz Republic, India is displaying an outreach to the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO), which is headed by the Kyrgyz leader, and which has China, Russia, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan and Pakistan as members.
· India, which became a member along with Pakistan in 2017, wants to leverage its membership to advance its strategic objectives — counter-terrorism and connectivity.
· Some of these BIMSTEC countries had supported New Delhi’s call for a boycott of the SAARC summit scheduled in Islamabad in2016, because of the Uri attack.
· As the summit was postponed, India had claimed victory in isolating Pakistan, having accused that country of carrying out the Uri attack.
Importance of BIMSTEC
· The Bay of Bengal is the largest bay in the world. Over one-fifth (22%) of the world’s population live in the seven countries around it, and they have a combined GDP close to $2.7 trillion.
· Despite economic challenges, all these seven countries have been able to sustain average annual rates of economic growth between 3.4% and 7.5% from 2012 to 2016.
· BIMSTEC, which now includes five countries from South Asia and two from ASEAN, is a bridge between South Asia and Southeast Asia. It includes all the major countries of South Asia, except Maldives, Afghanistan and Pakistan.
India’s Importance
· As the region’s largest economy, India has a lot at stake.
· BIMSTEC connects not only South and Southeast Asia, but also the ecologies of the Great Himalayas and the Bay of Bengal.
· For India, it is a natural platform to fulfil our key foreign policy priorities of ‘Neighborhood First’ and ‘Act East’.
· For New Delhi, one key reason for engagement is in the vast potential that is unlocked with stronger connectivity.
· From the strategic perspective, the Bay of Bengal, a funnel to the Malacca straits, has emerged a key theatre for an increasingly assertive China in maintaining its access route to the Indian Ocean.
· As China mounts assertive activities in the Bay of Bengal region, with increased submarine movement and ship visits in the Indian Ocean, it is in India’s interest to consolidate its internal engagement among the BIMSTEC countries.
@Pallavi 6 years
Please review my answer. I also have one question, could you please tell me, how can I improve my conceptual clarity for IR?
IAS Parliament 6 years
Try to add cultural dimension(Buddhism), Strengthening hold over Indian Ocean region, Tourism potential. Keep Writing.
