ABSTRACT

India's Northeast is acknowledged as the gateway to the East and is a major driving force in India's economic integration with the developing economies of East and Southeast Asia. This chapter focuses on then Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC) initiative, which focuses on fourteen priority sectors of cooperation in the region as a platform for cooperation in the subregion, keeping the Northeastern Region (NER) in the forefront of India's engagement in the institutional arrangement. The forums and working groups are the most essential part of this programme, which help to analyse, evaluate and monitor Greater Mekong Subregion Economic Cooperation Program's (GMS ECP) projects and activities and sharpen the focus of the GMS ECP's work. The GMS ECP strategy focuses on addressing the challenges of transport infrastructure through a sub-regional approach rather than a bilateral or broader regional program approach and emphasizes that the member countries of the grouping are committed to the regional efforts.