2019 – Posted in: Daily News

Bangladesh-China-India-Myanmar (BCIM) economic corridor and BRI

For: Preliminary
Topics covered: BCIM Economic corridor and BRI, CMEC, Benefits and issues related.

News Flash

India’s decision to skip the Belt and Road Forum (BRF) may have led to the exclusion of the Bangladesh- China- India- Myanmar (BCIM) Economic corridor from the list of projects covered by the China-led Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) umbrella.

China’s second Belt and Road Forum (BRF), in which 37 heads of state and governments took part, concluded on saturday.

BCIM Forum

The Bangladesh–China–India–Myanmar Forum for Regional Cooperation (BCIM) is a sub-regional organisation of Asian nations aimed at greater integration of trade and investment between the four countries.

BCIM Economic Corridor

The multi-modal corridor will be the first interstate between India (Kolkata) and China (KUNMING) and will go through Myanmar (Mandalay) and Bangladesh (Dhaka).

Advantages of BCIM-EC

Greater market access for goods.
Services and energy.
Elimination of non-tariff barriers.
Better trade facilitation.
Investment in infrastructure development
Joint exploration and development of mineral, water, and other natural resources.
Development of value and supply chains based on comparative advantages.
Closer people to people contact.
Access to numerous markets in Southeast Asia.
Improvement of transportation infrastructure.
Creation of industrial zones.
India’s isolated eastern and north-eastern states also stand to gain by higher trade and connectivity with China and the rest of Asia.

Current Status

In an annex tagged with the Joint Communiqué of the Leaders’ Second Roundtable of the BRF, the Chinese foreign ministry website has not listed the BCIM as a project covered by the BRI—the giant connectivity initiative speared by China to revive the ancient Silk Road across Eurasia and Africa.

The CPEC, “the Nepal-China Trans-Himalayan Multi-Dimensional Connectivity Network, including Nepal-China cross-border railway” and the China-Myanmar Economic Corridor (CMEC) figured in the list from the South Asian region.

The Bangladesh-China-India-Myanmar Economic Corridor (BCIMEC) which has been previously mentioned as part of BRI when it was launched in 2013, did not figure in the list of 35 corridor mentioned in the new list of projects under the BRI.

Why India did not join BRI?

Again for the second time, India says it cannot accept a project that ignores its core concern on sovereignty and territorial integrity.

India has been severely critical of the BRI project of China which passes through Pakistan-occupied kashmir (PoK).

Why these developments?

Last September Myanmar inked an agreement with China to establish the CMEC. The 1,700-km corridor provides China yet another node to access the Indian Ocean. Now China can move without engaging India on this corridor.
The CMEC will run from Yunnan Province of China to Mandalay in Central Myanmar. From there it will head towards Yangon, before terminating at the Kyaukpyu Special Economic Zone (SEZ) in the Bay of Bengal.

Source: The Hindu

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