"The South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) has been a recurrent hostage to downturns in India-Pakistan relations, which has often led New Delhi to turn to subregional initiatives, as has been witnessed by the current prime minister’s invitation to the member countries of the Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC) to his swearing-in ceremony last year. BIMSTEC comprises five countries in South Asia – Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Nepal and Sri Lanka – and two in Southeast Asia, Myanmar and Thailand. Going by the past records, India’s approach to subregional initiatives has been marred by a lack of leadership, resources and institutionalization. For instance, it took 17 years for BIMSTEC to establish a permanent secretariat in Dhaka, in 2014. Similarly, the Bangladesh, China, India and Myanmar Economic Corridor (BCIM) remained a Track II initiative for India until 2013 despite the rhetoric as to the perceived importance of subregional groupings. However, India is poised to focus more on subregional initiatives considering that the possibility of a resurrection of SAARC seems remote. New Delhi’s endeavor in this direction, nonetheless, has met a powerful tide from the reverse direction in the shape of China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI)..."