The Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC) is a multilateral regional organization that links seven nations situated around the Bay of Bengal, acting as a bridge between South and Southeast Asia. It was established on June 6, 1997, with the adoption of the Bangkok Declaration, initially as BIST-EC (Bangladesh, India, Sri Lanka, and Thailand Economic Cooperation). The organization was created to accelerate shared growth and cooperation among littoral and adjacent countries in the Bay of Bengal region. Myanmar joined in December 1997, and the grouping was renamed BIMST-EC. The name was changed to the current BIMSTEC at the First Summit on July 31, 2004, after Nepal and Bhutan became full members in February 2004.
BIMSTEC's mechanism is sector-driven, aiming to promote economic cooperation and technical collaboration. The organization's supreme decision-making body is the BIMSTEC Summit, comprising the Heads of State or Government of the Member States. Until recently, BIMSTEC lacked a formal institutional architecture, but the BIMSTEC Charter was officially adopted at the Fifth Summit in Colombo on March 30, 2022, formalizing its structure and providing a legal framework for cooperation. A significant recent change was the reorganization of cooperation activities from 14 sectors into seven consolidated priority sectors at the Fifth Summit in 2022, with each assigned a lead member state. For instance, India was made the pillar for security, including Counter-Terrorism and Transnational Crime (CTTCC), Disaster Management, and Energy.
BIMSTEC connects to other regional groupings like the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), often being viewed as a more viable platform for regional integration due to the stagnation of SAARC. The organization's objectives include establishing multidimensional connectivity and promoting trade and investment, with a Framework Agreement on the BIMSTEC Free Trade Area signed on February 8, 2004, which is currently under negotiation. The permanent secretariat is located in Dhaka, Bangladesh.