Bangladesh, China, India, Myanmar ( (BCIM) began its trip as a “ track two” action with an end to bring better collaboration in the inflow of products, services, energy, investments, technology and people to people contact within these countries. Primarily, it was established as a Track II dialogue to produce asub-regional‘ cooperation zone’or‘ growth zone’which would link the fairly backward regions stretching from land-locked areas of Southwest China to North-eastern India along with the adjoining Least Developed Countries (LDCs) of Bangladesh and Myanmar.
At the heart of the BCIM action is the route connecting Kolkata (In India) with Kunming (in China). The connection between the two countries will be made by crossing over the countries of Bangladesh and Myanmar. The end of the corridor is facilitation of connectivity and trade liaison between the underdeveloped and landlocked areas of India’s North-eastern region and South-western region of China. As one of the main points of the BCIM forum is to hoist the major underdeveloped areas out of their present state of condition, the profitable corridor (EC) when materialised would give vital connectivity and trade liaison to the underdeveloped regions of India and China. For India development of northeast is of vital to lift the region out of poverty. A major reason for the underdeveloped nature of the region is that of poor connectivity. Thus, if the BCIM EC is suitable to link northeast India with the Southeast Asian and East Asian request also this can produce lots of occasion for the people of the region. The perpetration of the BCIM EC will give the member countries to exploit the complementarities that live amongst them in trade. China is celebrity for manufacturing goods, for India service import is its speciality, Myanmar is exporter of primary and timber- grounded products and has abundant labor. Bangladesh specialises in import of garments and apparel. Therefore, the countries involved are anticipated to gain from more expansive request access for the goods and services. Through the elimination of tariff andnon-tariff walls along with development of force and value chains, grounded on relative advantage, can bring huge benefit to the region of BCIM. BCIM has huge eventuality in terms of earning profit from tourism and energy trade. Energy trade can be possible in the region because the south-western businesses of China (Sichuan, Guizhou and Yunnan), the North-eastern region of India, Yadana and the Shwegas fields in Myanmar have huge reserves of natural gas. In addition to natural gas, thesesub-regions have huge reserves of other energy like coal, petroleum. There’s actuality of abundant water coffers in thesub-region, which could be utiliszed to induce hydroelectricity for the artificial sector. Multitudinous aqueducts dotted in the entire Northeast of India can be successfully utiliszed for this purpose. Thus, in this regard, the BCIM region has an occasion to establish a indigenous forum to assess electricity generation capacity and mechanisms, and suggest the forms and morals of electricity cooperation and generation in the region. As far as tourism is concerned, member countries could reap benefits throughsub-regional cooperation. The entire region of BCIM is dotted with sightseer destinations. Particularly these destinations are spread through India, China and Bangladesh. India-China and India-Bangladesh can develop a circuit of religious tourism. Rich natural coffers along with wide range of artistic diversity can attract excursionists not only from the region but also around the world. By developing and easing travelling among the member- countries, thissub-regional cooperation could also play an important part in developingeco-tourism and religious tourism.
A connectivity road chart linking Asia with Africa and Europe was first projected in September 2013, by China under the‘One Road One Belt’ (OROB) Initiative which latterly came to known as Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). It’s is the concoction of Chinese President Xi Jinping. Originally the OBOR policy was meant to be a frame for better cooperation between Central Asia and China’s westernprovinces.Though the Chinese have claimed India to join the BRI, the Indian side has decided to refrain from the BRI design. India transacted the first Belt and Road Forum (BRF) in 2017 and also alternate Belt and Road Forum held in 2019. India is the only South Asian country having to do so. In the alternate BRF, the BCIM has not been enlisted by the Chinese side to be considered a part of the BRI. Most lately in the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) meeting held in November 2020, India didn’t join the other members of the SCO in backing the Chinese- led BRI. Though the Chinese have claimed India to join the BRI, the Indian side has decided to refrain from the BRI design. India transacted the first Belt and Road Forum (BRF) in 2017 and also alternate Belt and Road Forum held in 2019. India is the only South Asian country to have done so. In the alternate BRF, the BCIM has not been enlisted by the Chinese side to be considered a part of the BRI.
The resistance from India stems from the fact that there are apprehensions that Chinese might misuse BRI as a geostrategicleverage.India has refused to be part of BRI is due to involvement of China with Pakistan in the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor, (CPEC) which is a flagship design under BRI between Xinjiang in China and Gwadar in Baluchistan that goes through PoK and Gilgit-Baltistan. Second, India looks at CPEC as a‘unilateral’ action from China and therefore directly transgresses its sovereignty. New Delhi is upset that Chinese-funded structure systems may run afoul of accepted transnational norms and morals; entitlement China lesser geopolitical influence and overdue profitable and politic influence over the policymaking opinions of India’s neighbours in ways that disadvantage India. Further over the Maritime Silk Route which the Chinese are talking about as part of the OBOR is also seen by India with apprehension, because Maritime Silk Route is frequently equated with the‘ string of plums’ strategy that has been espoused by China to dominate the Indian Ocean. As China has committed to some harborage systems with Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Myanmar, India is alive of Chinese presence in India’s vicinity. Given the fact that BCIM predates BRI and was conceived with the idea ofsub-regional development, India should continue with those points. Being on board with BCIM India can take advantage of the profitable ties in the region. Thus, it would be wise to relook at the occasion to boost the BCIM forum. India’s central geostrategic position being one of the world’s largest husbandry, will add a instigation to the Forum in terms of palpable outgrowth. A holistic approach to dissect and increase business between South, Southeast and East Asia through BCIM should be emphasised. India should be a visionary player in the forum for its own benefit. India shouldn’t miss out on the openings generated by BCIM, especially in light of China’s bilateral connectivity systems around the region. Piecemeal from CPEC, the China-Myanmar Economic Corridor (CMEC) is also explosively taken ahead by the Chinese. The corridor will be Y- shaped corridor, which will start from China’s Yunnan fiefdom and go towards Mandalay in Myanmar. After reaching Mandalay, the corridor could extend to Yangon megacity and towards the Kyaukphyu SEZ in Rakhine State.
With CMEC the Chinese will have access to the Indian Ocean, which can be cause of concern to India. For Bangladesh, the country officially has been part of BRI since 2016, China has made massive investment in Bangladesh amounting to further than 38 billion. Piecemeal from Bangladesh, Myanmar and Pakistan, Chinese massive investment in Nepal, Sri Lanka and Maldives, haven’t gone well with India. The option that seems to be most feasible to India at this point is to either “ catch up” or seek claim in the metamorphoses. While catching up might bear considerable time and resource, being part of the metamorphosis with better collaboration and cooperation can be down forward.