History
BIMSTEC, Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation is a subregional cooperation establish on 1997 June 7 in Bankok as "Bangladesh, India, Srilanka, Thailand Economic Cooperation, BIST-EC." The observer nation Myanmar became a member on December 22 of 1997. Bhutan and Nepal became members in 2004. Nepal was an observer nation of ministerial meeting 1998 December in Dhaka. Till now BIMSTEC has 7 member states. Nepal, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Srilanka of SAARC and Myanmar and Thailand of ASEAN.
Member States
Bangladesh:
- Capital/Largest City: Dhaka
- Official Language: Bengali, Religion: 90.4% Islam
- PM: Sheikh Hasina, President: Abdul Hamid
- Area: 147570 Sq.KM (92nd), Population: Approx. 162.9 million (8th)
- GDP PPP Per Capita(2018): $4561(139th)
- HDI (2015): 0.579 Medium (139th)
- Currency: Taka, Time Zone: UTC +6
Nepal:
- Capital/Largest City: Kathmandu
- Official Language: Nepali Religion: 81.3% Hinduism
- PM: KP Sharma Oli, President: Bidhya Devi Bhandari
- Area: 147181 Sq.KM (93rd), Population: Approx. 28.98 million (48th)
- GDP PPP Per Capita(2018): $2573 ()
- HDI (2015): 0.558 (144th)
- Currency: Nepalese Rupee, Time Zone: UTC +5.45
India:
- Capital City: New Delhi, Largest City: Mumbai
- Official Language: Hindi (and Provincial languages), Religion: 79.8% Hindu
- PM: Narendra Modi, President: Ramnath Kovind
- Area: 3287263 Sq. KM (7th), Population: Approx. 1324 million (2nd)
- GDP PPP Per Capita(2018): $7783 (116th)
- HDI (2015): 0.624 medium (131st)
- Currency: Indian Rupee, Time Zone: UTC +5.30
Bhutan:
- Capital/Largest City: Thimphu
- Official Language: Dzongkha, Religion: Buddhism, Hinduism
- PM: Lyonpo Tshering Tobgay, King: Jigme Khesa Namgyel Wangchuck
- Area: 38394 (133rd), Population: Approx. 797000 (165)
- GDP PPP Per Capita(2018): $9805 (115th)
- HDI (2015): 0.607 (132nd)
- Currency: Ngultrum, Time Zone: UTC +6
Srilanka:
- Administerial Capital: Shree Jaywardanepura Kotte, Commercial Capital: Colombo
- Official Language: Sinhala and Tamil, Religion: Buddhism(70.2%)
- PM: Ranil Wickremesinghe, President: Maithripala Sirisena
- Area: 65610 Sq.Km (120th)Population: 22 million (58th)
- GDP PPP Per Capita(2018): $13847 ()
- HDI (2015): 0.766 high (73rd)
- Currency: Time Zone: UTC +5.30
Thailand:
- Capital/Largest City: Bankok
- Official Language: Religion:
- PM: , President:
- Area: 513120 Sq. km (50th), Population: Approx. 32 million (21st)
- GDP PPP Per Capita(2018): $18943 ()
- HDI (2015): 0.789 High (87th)
- Currency: Baht, Time Zone: UTC +
Myanmar:
- Capital City: Naypyidaw, Largest City: Yangon
- Official Language: Burmese, Religion: Buddhism (87.9%)
- President: Win Myint, State Counsellor: Aung San Suu Kyi
- Area: 676578 Sq. km (39th), Population: 53 million (125th)
- GDP PPP Per Capita(2018): $6139 (126th)
- HDI (2015): 0.556 (145th)
- Currency: Kyat, Time Zone: UTC +6.30
Note: GDP PPP: Gross Domestic Product, Purchasing Power Parity, HDI: Human Development Index
Ranking Among Member States
Rank by Area: India, Myanmar, Thailand, Bangladesh, Nepal, Srilanka, Bhutan
Rank by Population: India, Bangladesh, Thailand, Nepal, Srilanka, Myanmar, Bhutan
Rank by GDP PPP Per Capita: Thailand, Srilanka, Bhutan, India, Bangladesh, Myanmar, Nepal
Rank by HDI: Srilanka, Thailand, India, Bhutan, Bangladesh, Nepal, Myanmar
Nepal's Diplomatic Relation:
Nepal-India: 13 June 1947
Nepal-Srilanka: 1 June 1957
Nepal-Myanmar: 19 May 1960
Nepal-Thailand: 30 Nov 1960
Nepal-Srilanka: 1 June 1957
Nepal-Myanmar: 19 May 1960
Nepal-Thailand: 30 Nov 1960
Nepal-Bangladesh: 8 Apr 1972
Nepal-Bhutan: 3 June 1983
4th BIMSTEC Summit
- August 30 and 31 in Kathmandu Nepal
- Far from the Bay of Bengal, Nepal is also a member of BIMSTEC
- Critics say that India has been utilizing BIMSTEC for ganging-up other SAARC countries against Pakistan
Video: BIMSTEC Kathmandu Summit 2018