Lancang-Mekong Cooperation (LMC)

GS PAPER II: Important International institutions, agencies and fora - their structure, mandate.

Context: China is hosting foreign ministers from the 10 ASEAN countries with Beijing pushing for closer economic cooperation and aligning COVID-19 recovery efforts even as it looks to push back against the recent regional outreach of the Quad grouping.

• Deepening economic cooperation, particularly following the signing of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) trade deal, would be China’s focus.

About Lancang-Mekong Cooperation (LMC)

• It is a multilateral format established in 2016 for cooperation between the riparian states of the Lancang River and Mekong River.
• The Lancang is the part of the Mekong that flows through China.
• Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Vietnam and Thailand are five downstream countries of the Mekong River.
• The central purpose of the format is for China to manage water flow from its hydropower dams with the other riparian states.
• LMC Special Fund was created in 2016 to aid in small and medium-sized projects by the Lancang-Mekong countries.

https://www.thehindu.com/news/international/china-hosts-asean-ministers-with-message-for-quad/article34753960.ece