India’s Northeast region is emerging as a connectivity hub for BIMSTEC with a network of myriad roads, railways, waterways, grids and pipelines, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said on Thursday, virtually dismissing Bangladesh’s Chief Adviser Muhammad Yunus’s recent attempt to position his country as the “guardian of ocean access” for the region while describing India’s Northeast as ”landlocked”.

”Furthermore, completing the Trilateral Highway will connect India’s North-East all the way to the Pacific Ocean, a veritable game-changer. We are conscious that our cooperation and facilitation are an essential prerequisite for the smooth flow of goods, services and people in this larger geography,” he said while addressing the 20th BIMSTEC ministerial meeting in Bangkok ahead of the BIMSTEC Summit on Friday.

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”Keeping this geo-strategic factor in mind, we have devoted increasing energies and attention to strengthening BIMSTEC in the last decade. We also believe that cooperation is an integrated outlook, not one subject to cherry picking,” Mr Jaishankar said.

His comments came after Mr Yunus, during his recent visit to China, remarked that India’s Northeast was “landlocked” and had “no way to reach out to the ocean” and projected Bangladesh as the primary gateway for the region’s maritime access.

BIMSTEC (Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation) brings together India, Bangladesh, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Bhutan, Thailand and Myanmar.

Mr Jaishankar said the BIMSTEC represents the trifecta of India’s crucial initiatives: the Act East policy, the Neighbourhood First approach and the MAHA-SAGAR outlook.

”It is also on the pathway to our Indo-Pacific commitment. To promote BIMSTEC, what India is doing is to draw the best from all of them and then synergise that with our collective efforts. That our bilateral relationships with individual BIMSTEC members are also strong and steadily growing is a further source of strength,” he said.

The Indian minister expressed solidarity and support for Myanmar and Thailand in the face of the massive earthquake recently. India, he said, is living up to its obligation as a First Responder in this situation.

He observed that the new world order, whose outlines have only now started to become visible, is intrinsically more regional and agenda-specific. ”The era when a few powers underwrote the international system is now behind us. What we make of our prospects is very much dependent on ourselves. As developing nations who face a multitude of challenges, that is better done in concert with each other than individually,” he added.

He said the nations around and proximate to the Bay of Bengal have both common interests and shared concerns. ”Some of it emanates from our history, where other priorities overrode the well-being of this region. The results are there for all of us to see even today. Whether it is connectivity, trade, investment or services between the BIMSTEC members, we are performing below our real potential,” he noted.

BIMSTEC, he said, is not just a gathering of the lowest common denominator. It is a shared endeavour with an ambitious purpose. ”We want to not just do what we must, but also do what we can, or even what we aspire to. That is why our activities on culture and arts, on sports, in addressing the hopes of the youth, in exploring the potential of space, or in sharing best practices of diplomacy are important,” the Indian minister said.