BANGLADESH INSTITUTE OF INTERNATIONAL AND STRATEGIC STUDIES

INDIA-BANGLADESH-MYANMAR: ENERGISING SUB-REGIONAL COOPERATION

Author: Sandeep Chakravorty

DOI Link: DOI: https://www.doi.org/10.56888/BIISSj2015v36n1a2

ABSTRACT

Many sub-regional initiatives are prospering in Asia. As the limits to regional cooperation become evident, particularly in the SAARC context, sub-regional cooperation offers a window of opportunity for India to push through economic integration of India with its South and South East Asian neighbours. Already some examples exist which need to be emulated and expanded upon such as ADB‘s SASEC programme for some South Asian countries or BIMSTEC involving South and South East Asia. This paper spells out the need and rationale for energising sub-regional cooperation among three major countries straddling the South and South East Asia axis namely India, Bangladesh and Myanmar. It argues that there is sufficient content and context in the three bilateral relationships, which of late have been witnessing upswings, to start working on various trilateral cooperation proposals. This will not only be a win-win formula for all three countries involved but will also propel greater cooperation in some other larger configurations of sub-regional cooperation namely BIMSTEC or BCIM-EC as these three countries form the geographical kernel of other frameworks as well.