The Bangkok Post
“BIMSTEC [Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation] is a unique bloc because it includes the world’s largest democracy, India, along with four other South Asian countries – Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Bhutan, and Nepal – and two ASEAN members, Thailand and Myanmar. Nay Pyi Taw is at the other end of the pendulum as the most brutal and oppressive regime.”
“Granted the current global condition and unpredictability, the Bay of Bengal is no longer a geopolitical backwater. A quarter of the world’s traded goods transit through its waters annually. Nearly 1.5 billion people – about 22% of the global population – live in Bimstec countries, which collectively generate a GDP of US$2.7 trillion (91.5 trillion baht). From 2012 to 2016, these countries recorded GDP growth rates between 3.4% and 7.5%.”
https://www.bangkokpost.com/opinion/opinion/2986846/bimstec-to-put-regional-ties-to-the-test