"The Kunming Initiative, a Track II sub-regional organization that includes Bangladesh, China, India and Myanmar (BCIM), was born out of the attempts to link the development plans of the southwestern Chinese province of Yunnan to India?s Look East policy. What is now Bangladesh, Northeast India, Myanmar and Yunnan were a few centuries ago much more integrated culturally, politically, and economically than they are today. Colonial borders literally fenced up the region, making it difficult for people and goods to move, undermining future political relations between the four countries. The area still is witness to irredentist claims and face various insurrections. To revive landlocked areas that once, straddled the southern Silk Route and used to see throngs of merchants, the Kunming Initiative signed on 17 August 1999 innovates in several regards..."