BIMSTEC: India’s Role in Bridging Boundaries through Sports

 Keywords: BIMSTEC, Sports Diplomacy, Foreign Policy, India, Act East Policy, Khelo India

Date: 08th July 2024

Sports diplomacy has emerged to characterize a long-standing practice-the special ability of sport to unite individuals, groups, and countries via a mutual enjoyment of physical activities. However, the effectiveness of sports diplomacy in achieving foreign policy objectives remains elusive and lacks a solid theoretical foundation. 

Having said that, there are already theoretical frameworks such as sport-as-diplomacy; sports anti-diplomacy; new sports diplomacy; and classic sports diplomacy that explains the complicated terrain where politics, sport, and diplomacy intersect as well as the dangers of utilizing sport to bridge and mediate gaps between individuals, non-state actors, and governments. 

Notable historical successes include the instance of ‘ping-pong diplomacy’ and baseball games between Japan and the United States in the aftermath of the Second World War. The Soviet boycott of the 1984 Olympic games and the formation of an alternate ‘Friendship Games’ highlights how politics sometimes taints the efforts of constructing a global community.  

One of the most significant roles played by sports diplomacy is strengthening ‘regionalism’, through which countries of a particular region intensify their interactions or cooperation. Be it the role of football towards uniting the Latin American region, or the South Asian Federation (SAF) games that tried to bring the region together. Sports diplomacy and regionalism seem to go hand-in-hand. 

The power of sports was best witnessed in the 2018 Winter Olympic Games held in Pyeongchang, South Korea. The Korean peninsula witnessed one of the most peaceful times during the entire duration of the event. The event would always be remembered for the ‘United Korea’ team that participated in the ice hockey competition. Although the joy was short-lived, it demonstrated the potential of sporting events to develop international peace and stability. 

Earlier this year, the subregional grouping, Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC) held its first sporting event. The BIMSTEC Aquatic Games held in New Delhi was historic in more ways than one. About 400 athletes from the seven-member nations under the age of 20 participated in the tournament that included swimming, water polo, and diving. 

The sporting event followed Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s announcement of the formation of BIMSTEC youth water sports competition at the 2018 summit. Initially, planned to take place in 2021, this event could not proceed because of the outbreak of Covid-19 pandemic. 

The BIMSTEC Aquatic Championship is being viewed as a ground-breaking effort with observers hoping that it would establish the subregion as a breeding ground for developing sports potential. It is important to highlight that the Bay of Bengal space has the world's highest young population. Focusing on and investing in the development of sports potential, it could position itself as a vital participant in the global sporting arena. 

India is playing a major role in making this possible. The development of not just the nation’s sporting talents but also that of the Bay of Bengal subregion as a whole constitutes an important goal of the Indian government. It is with this goal that the Khelo India Youth Games were launched in 2017-2018. This tournament has been essential in developing grassroots sports talent in two categories: Under-17 and Under-21 sportspersons and preparing them for international competitions. 

The selected athletes receive proper training facilities and financial support. The government of India is establishing 1,000 district centres around the country as part of the 'Khelo India' initiative. The establishment of India’s first National Sports University in Manipur, costing INR 800 crore, is another significant step forward. Similarly, Major Dhyan Chand Sports University to be opened in Uttar Pradesh will provide higher education in sports. 

To improve India's performance in the Olympics and Paralympics, the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports (MYAS) also previously launched the Target Olympic Podium Scheme (TOPS) in 2014. This was modified in 2018 to create a technical support staff to manage TOPS athletes and to provide overall assistance. The scheme offers extensive assistance to athletes. It guarantees that a ‘core group of athletes’ receive essential personalized assistance in terms of overseas exposure, coach hiring, training, and international competition. The Mission Olympic Cell is a specific entity established to help athletes selected under the TOP Scheme. 

Significantly, the TOP Scheme played an important part in the nation’s sporting achievement. The TOPS-sponsored athletes had considerable success in the 2016 Rio Olympics and the 2018 Commonwealth Games. It also resulted in India’s best-ever Olympic and Paralympic performance in 2020, a Thomas Cup victory after 73 years, and several more athletic triumphs. 

The BIMSTEC Aquatics Championship may push the Bay of Bengal subregion towards becoming a sporting power centre. It is essential to harness the immense potential of the abundant human resources in the region and sports can play a key role as an alternate career path in this aspect. 

In recent years, the region has also emerged as a viable source of sporting talent across the world. The region offers a rich and diversified pool of traditional games that are gaining more popularity internationally and are becoming part of international sports. The BIMSTEC Aquatic Championship has set a beginning in transforming the Bay of Bengal subregion into a sporting powerhouse. This effort will contribute to the development of a gaming and sports culture in the world's youngest region. 

Besides, the introduction of this sporting event also reveals India's Act East agenda. As the largest BIMSTEC member state, India will have a significant role in forging stronger connections with the other member countries through various fields including sports. This Championship is celebrated as the ‘unique link’ between South Asia and Southeast Asia that has been made possible through the BIMSTEC forum.

Sagnik Sarkar is a Research and Program Associate at Asian Confluence.

Disclaimer: The views expressed above and the information available are those of the author/s and can therefore in no way be taken to reflect the position of Asian Confluence