President of the Bangladesh Institute of Peace and Security Studies (BIPSS) Maj Gen (Retd) ANM Muniruzzaman has said the Bay of Bengal has emerged as a central theatre in contemporary Indo-Pacific Strategy (IPS), underscoring that the security, prosperity and stability of more than 1.8 billion people across the region are deeply interconnected.
“The Bay of Bengal is no longer viewed merely as a regional body of water connecting South and Southeast Asia,” he said while jointly chairing a roundtable with Secretary-General of BIMSTEC Ambassador Indra Mani Pandey in Dhaka on Tuesday.
BIPSS, in partnership with the BIMSTEC Secretariat, convened the roundtable titled “Strengthening the BIMSTEC Security Pillar: Progress, Challenges and the Way Forward” at the BIMSTEC Secretariat in Dhaka.
The roundtable brought together academics, researchers, security experts, diplomats, ambassadors and policymakers to assess the state of regional security cooperation within BIMSTEC and chart a way forward as the organisation approaches its 30th anniversary.
Ambassador Pandey delivered the opening remarks and a short presentation outlining the structure and progress of BIMSTEC’s security architecture.
He detailed the work of the Joint Working Group on Counter-Terrorism and Transnational Crime and its five sub-groups, the annual meetings of national security advisers, and the forthcoming inaugural meeting of BIMSTEC Home Ministers, scheduled for October 12-13 in New Delhi.
The SG also highlighted progress on the first BIMSTEC maritime security exercise, planned for later this year, as well as emerging cooperation frameworks on cybersecurity, anti-money laundering and the newly proposed Himalayan Science Council.
The keynote address was delivered by Dr Rashed Uz Zaman, Professor of the Department of International Relations at the University of Dhaka.
His presentation examined the strategic weight of the BIMSTEC region, which is home to nearly a quarter of humanity and has a combined GDP exceeding US$5 trillion.
He argued that the region’s security challenges have become increasingly interconnected rather than isolated.
“Institutions are not automatically capabilities. Plans are not automatically operations,” Dr Zaman noted, calling on BIMSTEC to move from declaratory commitments towards measurable implementation.
He proposed six priority areas for action: a time-bound BIMSTEC Security Roadmap 2030; completion of the region’s legal-operational chain, including outstanding conventions on extradition and mutual legal assistance; a federated Security Coordination Network linking national law-enforcement and intelligence agencies; a Maritime Resilience Package; a Cyber and Financial-Crime Compact; and a comprehensive approach to human and climate security.
The keynote was followed by an extended open discussion moderated by Muniruzzaman, during which participants raised the need for cross-sectoral coordination and a balance between BIMSTEC’s security and development agendas.
Recurring themes included the need for institutionalised intelligence-sharing, stronger maritime cooperation and closer attention to the security dimensions of climate change in the wake of the disaster in Nepal.
In his closing remarks, Shafqat Munir, Senior Research Fellow at BIPSS, said BIMSTEC needs to focus on certain key priorities.
He especially highlighted the importance of institutionalised information and intelligence-sharing on major threats, enhancing integrated maritime domain awareness and strengthening cybersecurity, as well as the need to build effective tools to counter security challenges emanating from climate change.
He also laid emphasis on the need to bolster defence diplomacy and Track 1.5/Track 2-level dialogue under the auspices of BIMSTEC.