Beijing would like to upgrade the Bangladesh-China-India-Myanmar-Economic Corridor (BCIM-EC) dialogue from Track I (official diplomacy) to the “intergovernmental level”.
The two-day BCIM meet began in Kolkata on Tuesday.
The BCIM is a sub-regional group to review economic development of the region while facilitating the construction of a 2,800-km economic corridor from Kunming in south-west China to Kolkata via Mandalay in Myanmar, Imphal (Manipur) and Silchar (Assam) in India, and Dhaka and Jessore in Bangladesh. The idea gained momentum after a meeting between Chinese Premier Li Keqiang and former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in 2013.
At the beginning of the BCIM-EC Joint Study Group meeting here on Tuesday, the head of the Chinese delegation said Beijing wishes to have a mechanism in place to initiate the process of government-to-government dialogue.
“It was decided in the second conference [held in Bangladesh in December 2014] that mechanism modalities of an intergovernmental framework agreement will be worked out on the basis of reports by all BCIM countries,” said Chinese delegation head Wang Xiaotao.
He is the Vice-Chairman of China’s National Development and Reform Commission, a counterpart of India’s NITI Aayog.
Explaining Mr. Wang’s observations, a Chinese delegation member told The Hindu , “As per the decision during the Bangladesh conference, the time has come to launch the mechanism of intergovernmental cooperation. The mechanism has two parts —first to discuss and approve reports, and then to launch the discussion to set up the government-to-government arrangement.”
Economic integration
The BCIM meeting on Tuesday was held to review the economic integration process while facilitating the construction of the economic corridor.
Though the corridor is planned through Manipur and Assam, officials from the States concerned were surprisingly not present at Tuesday’s plenary session.
Head of Indian delegation and former Ambassador Rajeet Mitter said reports of all four countries “have [been] finalised and circulated…[and these reports will] operate as an important reference point for future work”.
“Several chapters from reports by the four countries have now been merged in accordance with the last joint study group meeting [held in 2014]. They [the merged chapters] are in a position to enter into a discussion on the draft merged chapters,” Mr. Mitter said.
However, China’s suggestion to upgrade the joint study group dialogue to the “intergovernmental” level is easier said than done, as indicated by A. Gitesh Sarma, the Additional Secretary (Administration) and a delegation member of the Union Ministry of External Affairs.
“…Even as we explore greater connectivity between BCIM countries, we should be mindful of different domestic circumstances and developmental aspirations in our respective countries. While forging ahead on our respective developmental paths our four countries [are] at present at different levels of developments and this should be an important consideration while we engage in mutually beneficial areas for cooperation,” Mr. Sarma said.
The disparity in development, as indicated by some diplomats earlier, between Kunming and north-east India is perhaps the reason why New Delhi is yet to show the flag to the mega-BCIM corridor.
