~ Linn Maung ~
The Northeast region plays a significant role in India’s quest to deepen engagement with the ASEAN bloc and the wider Indo-Pacific, thanks to its vital geostrategic location as well as deep cultural, ethnic and historical linkages. This makes the Northeastern states a natural and important driver in India’s Act East Policy (AEP), as efforts to strengthen trade, investment, and supply chains, along with boosting security and cultural ties, are undertaken by New Delhi.
When Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated a rail line in the state of Mizoram on September 13, the northeast region reached the brink of becoming a land bridge and a strategic gateway for the country’s outreach to Southeast Asia.The newly inaugurated Bairabi-Sairang railway will be extended to the Myanmar border and ultimately integrated into the Myanmar rail network. This means India will have faster and reliableoverland connectivity with Southeast Asia, which is essential for economic expansion and addressing security concerns in Indo-Pacific.
Northeast India has had historic and civilisational links with Southeast Asia. It was historically part of overland and riverine routes,as well as led to the spread of Buddhism to Southeast Asia. Moreover, some tribal groups in Northeast India, such as Naga, Kuki, Tai-Ahom, Chakma and Mizo, share ethnic and linguistic similarities with the communities in Myanmar and beyond. Thus, the region is called the ‘gateway to Southeast Asia’.All this makes Northeast India important for AEP as it has become the indispensable bridge between India and ASEAN.
Without the Northeast, the AEP would havebeen restricted to being only a maritime policy. The Northeastern region is geographically significant as it shares over 5,300 km of international borders with China, Myanmar, Bhutan, Bangladesh, as well as has proximity to Nepal.Northeast’s integration with the ASEAN bloc allows India to tap into the about 700 million-person markets in Indonesia, the Philippines, Vietnam, Thailand, Myanmar, Malaysia, Cambodia, Laos, Singapore, and Brunei.
AEP has driven economic growth in North East India, as well as fostered deeper ties with neighbouring Southeast Asian cultures, said research scholar Grace Haokip. “In the last few decades, India’s stance towards East and Southeast Asia has evolved considerably, moving from a more passive, observant role under the “Look East” policy to a dynamic, engaged position under the “Act East” policy,” she said.
The transport infrastructure corridors in the Northeast region serve a dual purpose as they boost trade as well as provide strategic mobility for defence forces against the backdrop of growing Chinese influence and military expansion in the South China Sea and the Indian Ocean Region. India has been strengthening defence ties with the ASEAN nations and conducting joint military drills with some of them. Thus, the Northeast become crucial for India’s concerns over Chinese aggression on the Himalayan border as well as in Indo-Pacific.
Infrastructure development is central to the success of the AEP, which will have far-reaching implications, said Tolivi H Sumi, professor of economics from Nagaland. “It promotes regional economic cooperation, facilitates trade flows between India and Southeast Asia, and creates opportunities for the Northeast to integrate more closely into the regional economy.
Additionally, these improvements contribute to India’s strategic positioning in the Indo-Pacific, allowing for greater geopolitical influence in the region,” said Sumi said.
The government of India has acknowledged the crucial role the Northeast plays in the progress of the country. This has led to the comprehensive development of the region, with special focus on infrastructure building. Prime Minister Modi recently said that India could not imagine its development without the progress of the Northeast. After laying the foundation stone for projects worth INR 90 billion in Mizoram, which shares a border with Myanmar, Modi said “Mizoram has a major role in both the Act East Policy and the emerging North East Economic Corridor”.
India is following a multi-pronged approach in the Northeast, which aims at combining infrastructure development, economic integration, security cooperation, enhancing cross-border engagement and removing bottlenecks to strengthen ties with ASEAN. The Kaladan Multi-Modal Transit Transport Project (KMTTP) is an ambitious project that will facilitate alternate connectivity with the Northeast via Myanmar, as well as boost trade with the ASEAN block.
At present, there are direct flights from Northeast India to Singapore and Thailand. The government of India is exploring the expansion of air operations to other ASEAN nations. Rajkumar Ranjan Singh, the then Union Minister of State for External Affairs, had held talks with Vietnam. “All eight North East states are well connected by air, land and rail with other parts of India. I invite airlines from Vietnam to explore possibilities of connecting NE states with cities by air,” he had said. “It has further fostered its strategic relationship, promoting economic cooperation and strengthening cultural ties with ASEAN countries.”
At the ongoing 60th UNHRC session in Geneva, a Poster exhibition highlighted the infrastructure and community-led developments in the North-East India and its potential as a game-changer for the peace, prosperity and development of South –East Asia.
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