The catalyst to BIMSTEC’s success will be the FTA accords scheduled to come in force in 2006 and 2007 – although it remains to be seen whether the agreements will actually be finalised by the stipulated deadline. These agreements acquire even greater significance in the face of intra-BIMSTEC trade being so abysmal. Many analysts believe that BIMSTEC will tend to favour the smaller economies like Nepal and Burma. While India’s total exports to BIMSTEC countries is only six percent, the figure is 35 percent for Nepal and 37 percent for Burma. This dynamic, however, also increases the dependency of low trade index nations (such as Bangladesh, Nepal and Burma) on the more robust BIMSTEC members ( India and Thailand) for their imports. Such a situation will need to be handled with political sensitivity.