BIMSTEC Home Ministers’ Meeting: Regional Security and Cooperation

13 Oct 2026

Subject: GS 02: International Relations

Context: India hosted the first BIMSTEC Home Ministers’ Meeting in New Delhi to strengthen regional cooperation against terrorism and transnational crime.

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Key Highlights

Regional Cooperation: Union Home Minister Amit Shah described BIMSTEC as an important platform for regional integration, economic cooperation and collective security.
Counter-Terrorism: India reiterated its policy of zero tolerance towards terrorism and called for coordinated action against terrorist networks, radicalisation and terrorist financing.
Transnational Crime: Member countries were urged to strengthen cooperation against organised crime, narcotics trafficking, human trafficking, illicit financial flows and cyber threats.
Intelligence Sharing: Emphasis was placed on real-time information exchange, coordination among law enforcement agencies, border management and financial monitoring.
Legal Cooperation: India called for mutual assistance in extradition and legal processes, in accordance with national laws and applicable treaties.

About BIMSTEC

BIMSTEC is a regional organisation comprising seven countries located around the Bay of Bengal.
Full Form: Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation.
Established: 1997.
Headquarters: Dhaka, Bangladesh.
Members: Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Myanmar, Nepal, Sri Lanka and Thailand.
Objective: To promote regional cooperation in economic, technical and other sectors among countries around the Bay of Bengal and its neighbourhood.
Importance: It represents around 1.7 billion people (22% of the world’s population) with a combined GDP of nearly US$5 trillion.

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Evolution

Year	Development
1997	Established as BIST-EC (Bangladesh, India, Sri Lanka, Thailand Economic Cooperation).
1997	Myanmar joined; renamed BIMST-EC.
2004	Nepal and Bhutan joined; became BIMSTEC.