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DTSTART:20260514T033000Z
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SUMMARY:SEMINAR ON “THE BAY OF BENGAL AS A REGION FOR CO-OPERATIVE ENGAGEMENT” (SAMUDRAMANTHAN-2026)
DESCRIPTION:Concept Note
From the perspective of holistic maritime security as also from those of development and of sustainability, the criticality of what might be termed as the “Greater Bay of Bengal” — a predominantly maritime sub-regional geography that incorporates (in alphabetical order) Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar, Nepal, Singapore, Sri Lanka, and Thailand — can hardly be overstated.  Indeed, the Bay of Bengal is no longer merely a geographic space separating South and South-East Asia, but an increasingly consequential arena linking the wider Indo-Pacific through trade, transport, connectivity, security, and blue-economy interactions
The contemporary importance of the Bay is rooted in three overlapping realities.  First, it is a vital strategic and maritime space in which sea lines of communication, port-led development, energy flows, and regional security concerns intersect.  Second, the Bay connects littoral and hinterland States alike, making connectivity a matter not only of maritime infrastructure but also of roads, railways, inland waterways, logistics chains, and transit arrangements that bear directly upon the developmental prospects of both coastal and landlocked countries.  Third, the subregion faces a growing spectrum of non-traditional challenges, including climate-related disasters, environmental stress, smuggling and trafficking networks, illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing, and intensifying competition over marine resources.
In recent years, regional and extra-regional powers have sought to respond to these pressures, albeit unevenly.  Importantly BIMSTEC has acquired renewed relevance as a bridge between South and South-East Asia, with its Charter giving legal expression to the organisation’s wider role, with the “BIMSTEC Master Plan for Transport Connectivity” offering a ten-year framework within which to improve sub-regional linkages.  At the same time, the relationship between BIMSTEC and wider Indian Ocean institutions such as IORA remains under-examined, particularly with regard to mandate, scope, overlap, and the capacity to shape practical norms in the Bay of Bengal space.
Being seized of the criticality of these facts, the National Maritime Foundation (NMF), in conjunction with Global Order, will convene a sharply focused, day-long seminar in New Delhi on 14 May 2026, on the strategic significance of the Bay of Bengal.
This seminar — which is expected to be the inaugural edition of an annual series of convening mechanisms incorporating conferences, symposiums, workshops, and seminars — seeks to provide a focused platform for informed discussion among policy practitioners, scholars, officials, maritime professionals, and subject-matter experts.  Through its deliberations, it aims to assess the strategic, economic, ecological, and institutional dimensions of the Greater Bay of Bengal; to examine the opportunities and limitations of existing regional frameworks; and to generate policy-relevant insights on how maritime security, connectivity, and sustainable development may be pursued in an integrated manner.
The seminar will launch discussions that address a host of relevant issues: analysing the BIMSTEC Master Connectivity Plan; port infrastructure, scale, competitiveness, and resilience; perspectives on multi-modal connectivity from landlocked countries; development of Galathea Bay and its regional implications; correlating geography and regional stability; climate, environmental security, and disaster preparedness in the Bay; smuggling and trafficking and their implications for regional security; IUU fishing and resource conflicts; BIMSTEC as a norm-setter in the region; IORA and the Bay of Bengal: mandates, limits, and challenges; lessons from ASEAN-led cooperation for the wider Bay region; and the role of Track 1.5 and Track 2 platforms in the Bay of Bengal.
By bringing these themes into a single conversation, the seminar intends to move beyond compartmentalised approaches to the Bay of Bengal.  It will, instead, advance a more holistic understanding of the region as a shared strategic and developmental space in which maritime order, infrastructural connectivity, ecological security, and institutional cooperation are deeply interlinked.  The discussions will contribute to a sharper appreciation of the policy choices required for building a stable, connected, resilient, and sustainable Greater Bay of Bengal and will yield, as a specific deliverable, a policy-relevant White Paper that is of lasting relevance to all States operating in this vital geography.
To download the Seminar Booklet: CLICK HERE
URL:https://maritimeindia.org/events/seminar-on-the-bay-of-bengal-as-a-region-for-co-operative-engagement-samudramanthan-2026/
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