The Northeast is geopolitically situated between
mainland India and Southeast Asia. As a single geographical entity Northeast of
India comprises of seven states – Assam, Nagaland, Manipur, Arunachal
Pradesh, Mizoram and Tripura plus Sikkim. The region comprises of highly
undulating hilly terrains, covering 263,179 sq km which is about 8% of the
total geographical area of the country.The region is one of the landlocked
regions of South Asia. About 4500 km i.e. 98% of its border is with five
different countries of South Asia–Nepal, Bhutan, China, Myanmar and Bangladesh.
No other region of the Indian union share common border with so many different
countries. The region is connected to the Indian mainland by a small corridor called
‘chicken neck’ through the tenuous 22 km Siliguri corridor.
Although, the region is amply blessed with
diverse natural resources, rich bio-diversity and oil and natural gas, enormous
hydro-electricity potentials among others could not utilised mainly due to
geopolitical conditions of the region among several other factors. The lack of
connectivity and access to mainstream markets has perhaps been the main reason
for under utilisation of resources and resource-industry linkages. This has
resulted in the long standing underdevelopment of the region. Under development
in turn breeds insurgency and insurgency retards development. This is what the
hard truth behind the rampant under development of this region. This article
addresses the core issues of underdevelopment in the northeast of India and
further analyses how Look East Policy would help in having synergise effects on
reducing poverty, generating employment and overcoming backwardness in the
region.
Look East Policy – a foreign economic liberalisation
policy of India towards South East Asia started in 1991 during the Prime
Ministership of Shri. P.V.Narasimha Rao is believed to offer immense
developmental benefits to India especially to its northeastern part. It
is a strategic policy on part of India to forge deeper and closer economic
relations with its eastern neighbours. The essential philosophy behind the
policy of look east can be visualised from the statement of Dr. Manmohan Singh
when he says, ‘India’s Look East Policy is not merely an external economic
policy; rather it is a significant sign post of strategic shift in India’s
vision of the world and her place in the evolving global economic order.’The
policy was pursued with the objectives of reaping untapped benefits of trade
with East Asian countries and developing India’s North East as a hub of
economic activities by linking it to the dynamic East and South East Asian
countries.
Northeast of India is a landlocked region. The
partition of India in 1947 caused great disservice to the region by geopolitically
isolating the region from the mainland India. It resulted in most regulated
Northeast region, sensitive borders and most exposed territory. Most
importantly, the partition also caused severance of inland water; road and
railway communication through erstwhile Bengal and access to the Chittagong
port was lost. Further the Chinese takeover of Tibet and virtual closer of
border with Burma added to the isolation of the region. The loss of
connectivity and market access as a result of the partition sets its economy
back by at least quarter a century. If compared the economic profile of
northeast before with after partition, it is quite clear that the economy was
very sound before partition.
In addition, the region is also beset with
disadvantages like insurgency, unemployment, non-optimization of economic
capability, perceived distance from the country’s political and economic
epicenters etc. It is here the Look East Policy provides a window of
opportunities for this impoverished part of India. Fortunately, the region
happens to be the natural bridge between East and South East Asia and India.
Often described as the Gateway to South-East Asia, Northeast of India has been
offered with immense economic opportunities as a result of its integration with
the transnational neighbours. In fact Look East Policy envisages the Northeast
region not as a periphery of India, but as the centre of a thriving and
integrated economic space linking two dynamic regions with a network of
highways, railways, pipelines, transmission lines crisscrossing the
region. Currently, the North-East engages in border trade, mainly illegal,
with its neighbouring countries. But the Look East Policy aims to break the
existing barriers of border trade and facilitate a smooth, legal trade route
option.
Several measures have been undertaken in the aegis
of the “Look East” policy to uplift North East India. First amongst these
measures has been a proposal to build the “Asian Highway” and “Asian Railway
Link” and “Natural Gas” pipeline. The proposed geographical niche for the Asian
Highway is the Imphal (India)-Tamu (Myanmar) road going on to Kalemyo railway
onto Mandalay in Myanmar. Four lane Asian Highway is also sought between New
Delhi-Singapore linked to Kuala Lumpur, Ho Chi Minh City, Phnom Phen, Bangkok,
Vientiane, Yangon, Mandalay, Kalemyo, Tamu, Dhaka, and Kolkata. Road
construction has already started from Tamu to Kalemyo, Myanmar. There is also a
plan to construct a 1,360km Trilateral Highway from Moreh (India) to Mae Sot
(Thailand) through Bagan (Myanmar). Moreh in Manipur is seen as the
strategic key to India’s “Look East” policy.
The Kaladan Multi-Modal Transit Transport
Facility aimed at establishing connectivity between Indian ports on the eastern
side and Sittwe port in Myanmar through a riverine transport corridor and road
in Mizoram is envisaged as providing an alternate trade route to the North
East. For purposes of Burmese gas transfer through North East, India is
planning to invest $100 million in improving the old colonial Burmese port of
Sittwe on the west Burmese coast. It is hoped that with deeper ties between
these countries, the largely illegal flow of goods through Moreh (Manipur) into
other North Eastern states from South East Asia will become legalized. In
this context, it is arguably possible for the North Eastern states to develop
individual economic relations with, for instance, Thailand or Vietnam. This
sort of a two way model will enable to create a truly federal system of
democracy in India.
The region could also benefit immensely from water
sharing. The Mekong-Ganga Cooperation and the Kunming Initiative have been
undertaken by India and China respectively to reach out to ASEAN. The
Mekong-Ganga Cooperation was launched by India on November 10, 2000 at Vientiane,
Laos to boost cooperation in tourism, culture and education. The signatories
were India, Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos and Myanmar. These countries also
agreed to undertake joint transportation projects including the trans-Asian
highway. This initiative is India’s most significant venture in the region. The
best part about the Mekong initiative is that it does have the potential for
direct flights between Guwahati- Ho Chi Minh City-Imphal-Hanoi. For China, the
Kunming Initiative linking the Chinese province of Yunnan with Myanmar, India’s
North Eastern states, and Thailand holds promise of greater economic
interaction. It is also argued that the North East India must be allowed to
revive its old historical, cultural and traditional ties with South East Asia,
taking a clue from other significant trans-border linkages like that of
Basque, Catalonia, and Ireland, where the European Union allows “transnational
politics of recognition”, which empowers them from a marginalized existence in
their own states.
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