BIMSTEC

Why in news?

• PANEX-21, a multi-national - multi-agency exercise is being organised at Pune from 20-22 Dec 2021 with a focused aim to foster common and develop capabilities in Disaster Management aspects for the BIMSTEC nations.

About BIMSTEC:

• BIMSTEC stands for Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation
• It is a regional organization comprising seven Member States lying in the littoral and adjacent areas of the Bay of Bengal constituting a contiguous regional unity.
• This sub-regional organization came into being in 1997 through the Bangkok Declaration.
• The Permanent Secretariat of BIMSTEC was established in Dhaka, Bangladesh.
• The Chairmanship of BIMSTEC rotates among the Member States.

Members

• It constitutes seven Member States:
  • Five deriving from South Asia, including Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Nepal, Sri Lanka, and
  • Two from Southeast Asia, including Myanmar and Thailand.

Importance:

• BIMSTEC constitutes a bridge between South and South East Asia and represents a reinforcement of relations among these countries.
• The BIMSTEC region is home to around 1.5 billion people which constitute around 22% of the global population with a combined gross domestic product (GDP) of 2.7 trillion economy.

PRELIMS QUESTION

Which of the following statements are true about BIMSTEC?

1. BIMSTEC is a regional organization comprising of nine member states.

2. The Chairmanship of BIMSTEC rotates among the member states.

Select the correct answer using the codes given below:

(a) 1 only

(b) 2 only

(c) Both 1 and 2

(d) Neither 1 nor 2

Answer