18/11/2021 - International Relations

KEY POINTS

·        The Bay of Bengal (BoB) is gaining economic and strategic relevance as a significant sub-region within the Indo-Pacific. It increasingly matters in global strategic competition.

·        This is in sharp contrast to China, which, in recent years, has built a significant presence in the Bay of Bengal and its resident nations with connectivity projects and infrastructure finance.

·        Building infrastructure in this region faces governance and operational challenges, including small-scale insurgencies, migration, environmental stress, and crime.

·        Chinese projects connect to one another, from rail to the road to the port. An example is the proposed 2,800 km railway line connecting Kunming to Kolkata via Myanmar and Bangladesh.

·        Strong Bhutan-India hydropower ties, evident from the large concentration of hydropower projects in Bhutan and power transmission lines taking this power to India, offer a blueprint for the rest of the region.

·        Successful tech entrepreneurs are big backers of new start-ups this category of investors needs to be created. The tech sector is also less impacted by systemic inefficiencies that plague physical infrastructure.

·        Bay of Bengal nations, for their part, must set up a SPV to build a Bay of Bengal Power Grid with regional governments as shareholders. This can serve as a template for cooperation in other infrastructure projects.

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