Key Neighbourhood and Connectivity Forums of India

India’s Neighbourhood and Connectivity Frameworks

India’s foreign policy in its extended neighbourhood is built around Neighbourhood First and Act East. The focus is on regional cooperation, trade facilitation, energy security, maritime connectivity, and strategic stability across South Asia, Southeast Asia, and parts of Central Asia.

For Prelims revision, the key is to distinguish between broad regional forums such as SAARC and BIMSTEC, and more functional sub-regional or connectivity platforms such as BBIN, INSTC, TAPI, and the IMT Trilateral Highway.

SAARC: South Asian Regional Framework

• Genesis: SAARC was formed through the SAARC Charter signed in Dhaka on December 8, 1985.
• Secretariat: The SAARC Secretariat is located in Kathmandu, Nepal.
• Members: SAARC has 8 members — Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka.
• Trade framework: The South Asian Free Trade Area (SAFTA) was signed in 2004 and came into force on January 1, 2006.
• Development support: The SAARC Development Fund (SDF) was established in 2010 for social, economic, and infrastructure projects.
• Decision-making constraint: Article X of the SAARC Charter requires unanimity and excludes bilateral and contentious issues.
• Current status: SAARC summit meetings have remained suspended since the 2016 Uri terror attack, pushing India to look for other regional platforms.

BIMSTEC: Bay of Bengal Cooperation

• Genesis: BIMSTEC was established by the Bangkok Declaration in June 1997.
• Secretariat: The BIMSTEC Secretariat is located in Dhaka, Bangladesh.
• Members: BIMSTEC has 7 members — Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Myanmar, Nepal, Sri Lanka, and Thailand.
• Regional composition: It connects five South Asian and two Southeast Asian countries around the Bay of Bengal.
• India’s lead sectors: India leads Security, Counter-Terrorism, Transnational Crime, Disaster Management, and Energy.
• Charter: The BIMSTEC Charter was adopted during the 5th Summit in 2022.
• Recent milestones: The Bangkok Vision 2030 and the Agreement on Maritime Transport Cooperation were signed at the 6th Summit in Bangkok.
• Strategic role: BIMSTEC is seen as a bridge between South Asia and ASEAN and is more functional than SAARC in current Indian policy.

BBIN and Sub-Regional Connectivity

• Objective: The BBIN initiative promotes economic integration, transport connectivity, and water resources management.
• Members: BBIN stands for Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, and Nepal.
• Motor Vehicles Agreement: The BBIN Motor Vehicles Agreement (MVA) was signed in June 2015 for seamless movement of passenger, personal, and cargo vehicles.
• Implementation: Operational trials are underway among Bangladesh, India, and Nepal.
• Bhutan’s position: Bhutan has not fully joined the operational phase because of concerns related to environmental impact and vehicular pollution.

Energy Corridors: IPI and TAPI

• IPI Pipeline: The Iran-Pakistan-India (IPI) pipeline was proposed as a 2,775 km natural gas pipeline from Iran’s South Pars field through Pakistan into India.
• IPI status: India stalled formal involvement because of security concerns, pricing disagreements, and international sanctions on Iran.
• Alternative focus: India shifted emphasis to LNG sea routes and other connectivity corridors.
• TAPI Pipeline: The Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India (TAPI) pipeline is supported by the Asian Development Bank (ADB).
• Route: TAPI is planned from the Galkynysh gas field in Turkmenistan through Herat and Kandahar in Afghanistan, Quetta and Multan in Pakistan, to Fazilka in Punjab, India.
• Challenges: The project remains stalled due to security volatility in Afghanistan, regional political friction, and financing hurdles.

Maritime and Transcontinental Transit Platforms

• INSTC: The International North-South Transport Corridor is a multi-modal transport network established in 2000 at St. Petersburg by India, Iran, and Russia.
• Membership: It has expanded to 13 member states.
• Route: The corridor links Mumbai with Bandar Abbas and Chabahar in Iran, then extends through the Caspian Sea or Caucasus toward Moscow and Northern Europe.
• Utility: INSTC reduces freight transit time from about 40 days via the Suez route to nearly 20 days and cuts freight cost by around 30%.
• Chabahar link: India is actively integrating the Chabahar Port into the INSTC framework.
• IORA: The Indian Ocean Rim Association was formed in 1997 at Ebene, Mauritius, to promote sustainable growth and maritime safety in the Indian Ocean.
• IORA focus: It covers 23 member states and 12 dialogue partners, with emphasis on maritime safety, trade facilitation, fisheries management, disaster risk management, and the blue economy.

India-Myanmar-Thailand Trilateral Highway

• Route: The India-Myanmar-Thailand (IMT) Trilateral Highway is a 1,360 km project linking Moreh in Manipur with Mae Sot in Thailand via Myanmar.
• Border point: The key crossing point is Moreh (India) to Tamu (Myanmar).
• Strategic value: The highway strengthens physical connectivity with ASEAN under the Act East Policy.
• Proposed extension: The route has also been proposed eastward toward Lao PDR, Cambodia, and Vietnam.

Key Prelims Takeaways

• SAARC: Signed in Dhaka on December 8, 1985; Secretariat in Kathmandu.
• BIMSTEC: Founded by the Bangkok Declaration of June 1997; Secretariat in Dhaka.
• SAFTA: Signed in 2004 and enforced from January 1, 2006.
• BBIN MVA: Signed in June 2015 for cross-border vehicular movement among member states.
• INSTC: A multimodal corridor designed to cut time and cost between India, Iran, Russia, and Europe.
• TAPI: Gas pipeline from Galkynysh to Fazilka; implementation remains stalled.
• IMT Highway: Connects Moreh to Mae Sot via Myanmar and supports Act East.