The Bangladesh-China-India-Myanmar (BCIM) regional grouping has reportedly agreed to start joint research to find ways to establish their dream “economic corridor” among the countries. The decision was adopted at the first official-level joint working group meeting at Kunming (Yunnan province) on December 19.
The officials also reached consensus on cooperation in transportation infrastructure, investment, commerce and trade, cultural and people-to-people exchanges and other areas.
The idea of economic corridor among BCIM has been conceived sometime in Dhaka in 1999 by a group of economists. It was known as “Kunming Initiative” for regional connectivity. Gradually it caught the imagination of other countries. An informal working group was set up to develop a number of policy recommendations.
The last informal BCIM joint working group meeting was held in Dhaka last February when the Indian government sent an unofficial delegation while other countries were represented by officials. This is known as Track-II diplomacy. It took India a long time to get involved officially because of reported security concern of the impact of economic corridor on some of the troubled-torn northeastern states of India whose population are closer ethnically to China and these states share borders with China as well.
With the participation of Indian officials, the meeting just concluded at Kunming has now elevated to Track-I, meaning all the countries are represented by the officials. It is a big achievement for multilateral diplomacy.
On February 22, 2013, a group of adventure enthusiasts from four countries – Bangladesh, China, India and Myanmar – in a convoy of 20 cars, undertook a historic journey of 2,800km route that took them all the way from Kolkata to Kunming via Dhaka and Myanmar. The stated purpose of this journey was to highlight road connectivity in the four countries of the region (BCIM).
The joint statement issued at the end of Chinese Prime Minister Keqiang’s visit to India in May said that encouraged by the successful BCIM Car Rally of February 2013 between Kolkata and Kunming, the two sides had agreed to consult the other parties to establish a Joint Study Group on strengthening connectivity in the BCIM region for closer economic, trade, and people-to-people linkages, and to initiate the development of a BCIM Economic Corridor.
As a forerunner of the proposed economic corridor, the hugely popular 2004 India-ASEAN car rally, with the slogan “Networking People and Economies,” was one of the earliest signs of this connectivity. It is reported that more than 500 officials and business leaders from China and eight South Asian countries gathered in June 2011 to attend the 6th China-South Asia Business Forum presided by Sri Lankan Minister of Industry and Commerce Rishad Bathdeen, in Kunming, capital of Yunnan Province, to discuss the promotion of trade and investment in the region.
China’s Yunnan Province Governor Qin Guangrong visited Bangladesh in August 2010 on a two-day official trip on the invitation of Prime Minister Sheikh during her visit to Kunming in March 2010. Qin Guangrong discussed the setting up of direct road and rail connectivity between Bangladesh and China with government leaders.
In October 2013, a delegation of the Chinese government arrived in Dhaka from India to discuss the construction of the proposed Bangladesh-China-India-Myanmar (BCIM) Economic Corridor.
Trade between China and South Asian countries has grown robustly in recent years. The trade volume between both sides jumped to more than $80bn in 2010, up from $26bn in 2005.
The Bangladeshi government has been a strong believer in regional connectivity, and given its unique geographical position, the country can derive enormous economic benefits from regional connectivity. Connectivity through road, rivers and railways is perceived as an economic necessity and constitutes a part of the service industry during the days of globalisation.
It may be recalled that Lord Dalhousie, India’s Governor General from 1848 to 1856, once dreamed of a “route” in South Asia – a railway line from Singapore to Constantinople and beyond, with a branch track meandering up to Lhasa (Tibet). Another Governor General, Lord Curzon, (1899-1905) thought of a route linking Bengal, Myanmar and China. More recently, Indian Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh reportedly forwarded the idea: “I dream of a day … one can have breakfast in Amritsar, lunch in Lahore, and dinner in Kabul.”
The interconnectivity or economic corridor among countries and regions has become the flavour of the time. The US proposed the new silk route or Asia-Pacific economic corridor linking Europe, Central Asia, Middle East, South Asia, South East Asia and Pacific.
Last October, Turkey opened its “iron silk route,” an underground rail link between Europe and Asia in Turkey’s metropolis Istanbul from Turkey’s mainland. Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan reportedly said that it would connect London with Beijing.
Russia has proposed to South Korea Eurasian economic corridor which is to extend the Trans-Siberian Railway and the gas/oil pipelines to the Korean Peninsula – across North Korea to South Korea – becoming a key carrier for cargo and energy between East Asia and Europe.
Finally, the ability to construct the BCIM economic corridor will depend on the development of a coherent strategy by all countries involved, and must take into account key geopolitical and security considerations.
