Contemporary Relevance of the 'Bay of Bengal' for Cross Domain Awareness
Anuttama Banerji
Research Analyst based in New Delhi
Key Highlights
- With the growing geopolitical contestations in South Asia, the Bay of Bengal has emerged as a new strategic hotspot.
- BOB provides India access to important shipping lanes during peacetime or Sea Lines of Communication (SLOCs) during wartime.
- India has engaged in capacity building, capability enhancement, and institutional building to secure its interests within the BIMSTEC.
- As Bangladesh continues to grow economically, it is investing heavily in the blue economy sector and is also attempting to leverage its position as a major resident State within the Bay of Bengal.
The maritime sphere has become an important pivot within the evolving bilateral partnership between India and Bangladesh. Since 2015, both India and Bangladesh have come to give due credence to the maritime pivot within their growing strategic partnership. This shift in perception has led to the resurgence of the Bay of Bengal as a geographical zone of strategic relevance for both India and Bangladesh.
Within this construct, India and Bangladesh’s key location within the Bay of Bengal has not only acted as a catalyst in enabling greater convergences within the maritime domain between New Delhi and Dhaka but has re-centered attention on the Bay of Bengal as a geographical construct of influence.
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Anuttama Banerji
Research Analyst based in New Delhi
Anuttama Banerji is a research analyst based in New Delhi. Her research focuses on water and maritime security and South Asian Geopolitics. She had held visiting fellowships with Stimson Centre in the United States (2023) and NIICE Nepal (2024). She graduated with a Master's degree in International Relations from the London School of Economics and Political Science in 2018.