China for inter-governmental mechanism for BCIM corridor

China today sought an inter- governmental mechanism to work on a proposed Bangladesh- China-India-Myanmar (BCIM) economic corridor as talks on the project resumed here after a gap of over two years.
The third two-day BCIM economic corridor joint study group (JSG) meeting which began here saw participation of delegations from China, Bangladesh and Myanmar led by government officials. The Indian delegation was headed by former high commissioner Rajeet Mitter.
The Chinese head of the delegation Wang Xiaotao said "there is a need to put in place an inter-governmental cooperation mechanism for the success of the proposed initiative".
Xiaotao, who is also the vice-chairman of National Development & Reform Commission (NDRC), said that a joint research paper prepared by the four countries might be of help in the establishment of an inter-governmental cooperation mechanism.

This, he said, was needed to make the best effort to reach a consensus and develop the corridor for promoting development and improving the livelihood of the people in the region.
Asked about India's participation, Chinese consul general in Kolkata Ma Jhanwu told PTI on the sidelines of the event that they would have preferred a joint secretary level officer of the Indian government to lead the delegation.

Additional Secretary (administration) of the External Affairs Ministry A Gitesh Sharma in his opening remarks said that the establishment of the JSG would help explore the potential for cooperation among the four countries to strengthen connectivity in the region.

The corridor was also important for India's Act East Policy and would help the north-eastern states of the country, he said.
Mitter, former Indian high commissioner to Bangladesh, said that the proposed BCIM corridor has the potential to fill in the gaps in regional cooperation.
India, Bangladesh, China and Myanmar had agreed to establish the Joint Study Group on strengthening connectivity in the BCIM region for closer economic, trade and people-to- people linkages through the development of the economic corridor .
There have been two rounds of JSG meetings in 2013 and 2014. At the second meeting in Cox's Bazaar, Bangladesh on 17 -18 December, 2014, it was decided that the third meeting would be hosted by India.

High Commissioner of Bangladesh to Sri Lanka M Riaz Hamidullah said that the corridor would help enormously in the promotion of economic development in the region.
Myanmar's head of the delegation U Win Lwin, chief engineer of the construction ministry, said the first two JSG meetings had been successfully completed and his country had actively participated in the promotion of the corridor.
The corridor would also give trade opportunities by opening up land-locked areas of the region, he said.