Consider the following statements regarding the Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC) : 1. It is an international organisation involving a group of countries in South Asia and South East Asia. 2. All countries with whom India shares international border are members of the organisation. 3. Bangladesh, India, Sri Lanka and Thailand were the original members of the organisation. Which of the statements given above is/ are correct ?

BIMSTEC is a regional organization comprising seven member states from South Asia and Southeast Asia, bridging the two regions. Statement 1 is correct as it includes members like India, Bangladesh, and Thailand. Statement 2 is incorrect; while India shares land borders with Pakistan, Afghanistan, China, Nepal, Bhutan, Myanmar, and Bangladesh , Pakistan, Afghanistan, and China are not members of BIMSTEC. Statement 3 is correct; the organization was established on June 6, 1997, through the Bangkok Declaration as BIST-EC (Bangladesh, India, Sri Lanka, and Thailand Economic Cooperation). Myanmar joined later in 1997, and Nepal and Bhutan joined in 2004. Thus, only statements 1 and 3 are accurate. India's central geography makes it the only country bordering all other South Asian neighbors , but BIMSTEC membership is specifically tied to the Bay of Bengal littoral and adjacent areas.

Sources

1. [1] Contemporary World Politics, Textbook in political science for Class XII (NCERT 2025 ed.) > Chapter 3: Contemporary South Asia > Ideas for the Teacher > p. 41
2. [2] CONTEMPORARY INDIA-I ,Geography, Class IX . NCERT(Revised ed 2025) > Chapter 1: India Size and Location > The number of Union Territories along the western and eastern coasts. > p. 4