UPSC Mains 2022 GS Paper 2 Q10: model answer
Do you think that BIMSTEC is a parallel organisation like the SAARC? What are the similarities and dissimilarities between the two? How are Indian foreign policy objectives realized by forming this new organisation?
What the question wants
Discuss whether BIMSTEC parallels SAARC, their similarities and differences, and how it serves India's foreign policy goals.
How to structure it
Three parts: parallel?, similarities and differences, India's objectives.
- Origin
- Similarities
- Differences
- India's objectives
- Verdict
How to think it through
BIMSTEC (1997) bridges South and South-East Asia; seven members, no Pakistan. Its Charter came into force in 2024. It is not a substitute but a complement that works where SAARC is stuck.
Model answer
BIMSTEC was formed in 1997 and now has seven members: Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Nepal and Sri Lanka from South Asia, and Myanmar and Thailand from South-East Asia. Its Charter came into force in 2024.
Similarities with SAARC
- Regional cooperation on trade, connectivity and development.
- Five common members.
- Consensus-based, with small secretariats and limited budgets.
- A pending free trade agreement in both cases (SAFTA exists but is weak; BIMSTEC's FTA has been under talks since 2004).
Differences
- Pakistan is not a member.
- Bridge between South and South-East Asia.
- Sector-based cooperation: seven areas led by members, with India on security.
- No summit freeze; it met in Bangkok in 2025 and adopted the Bangkok Vision 2030.
- Bay of Bengal focus: maritime, energy and disaster cooperation.
India's objectives
- Neighbourhood First and Act East together.
- Connectivity to the North-East (Kaladan, the trilateral highway).
- Bay of Bengal security and disaster response.
- Isolating cross-border terror diplomatically.
BIMSTEC is not a parallel SAARC but a complementary path where SAARC is stuck. Its success depends on faster connectivity and a working FTA.
Draw: Two overlapping circles: SAARC (with Pakistan, Afghanistan, Maldives) and BIMSTEC (with Myanmar, Thailand), with five shared members.
Keywords, cases and data to drop in
BIMSTEC 1997, Charter 2024, seven members, Bangkok summit 2025, Bay of Bengal, Kaladan, India–Myanmar–Thailand highway, Act East, Neighbourhood First.
Where most answers lose marks
- Answering only one of the three parts.
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Question text as printed in the official UPSC Civil Services (Main) question paper. The model answer is original Battle IAS work; use it to learn structure, not to memorise.
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