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Since India's 1947 independence, 98% of Northeast India's borders have been with other Asian countries, making it a strategic frontier region.[1][2] India's Act East policy seeks to harness this connectivity in the modern day.[3]
East Asia
China
China claims the border state of Arunachal Pradesh as part of South Tibet, which has resulted in tensions between India and China.[4] Since 2009, China has issued "stapled visas" to people from Arunachal Pradesh when they wish to travel to China, signaling that they are perceived as having the same right of movement as Chinese citizens throughout China.[5]
In the late 19th century, the British sent an expedition to guarantee suzerainty in Sikkim, aiming to secure it from Tibet.[6] In postcolonial times, China had a dispute over the status of Sikkim, which acceded to India in 1975, until 2003.[7] However, 21st century border clashes have occurred between India and China in the region.[8]
Japan
During World War 2, the Japanese military collaborated with the Indian National Army in the region;[9] eventually, the westward expansion of the Japanese Empire was put to a stop in Northeast India in the 1944 Battle of Imphal.
Northeast India is currently being prioritized by India and Japan as part of Japan's Free and Open Indo-Pacific strategy and as part of India's Act East policy,[10] with both countries seeing the region as especially important for creating trading routes due to their collective rejection of China's Belt and Road Initiative.[11] Northeast India, in conjunction with the neighboring BIMSTEC country of Bangladesh, is seen by Japan as an important region in containing China,[12][13] while India seeks to use its northeastern region to increase engagement with Southeast Asia.[13] India's guarding of its northeast corner as a sensitive border region that it is unwilling to allow untrusted partner countries to invest in, is a major factor leading to India desiring Japan's involvement in the region.[14][15]
South Asia
Bangladesh
Northeast India is dependent on Bangladesh for access to the sea via Bangladesh’s Chittagong port. Initiatives for connectivity, like the Kaladan Multi-Modal Transit Transport Project and the Akhaura–Agartala line, are also relevant.[16] Bangladesh is also part of a proposed railway network that would allow the Northeast to connect with India through a more direct route.[17]
Immigration from Bangladesh has been a concern for indigenous populations in Northeast India, which oppose significant demographic change. This immigration has led to historical movements such as the Assam Movement of the 1980s.[18] In the early 21st century, some people in Assam and other states were deported to Bangladesh on suspicion of having illegally immigrated from Bangladesh (see also: National Register of Citizens for Assam).[19]
In 2025, India restricted its imports from Bangladesh after comments by caretaker Prime Minister Muhammad Yunus and others regarding Northeast India were deemed to be a threat, with the reduction in border trade impacting northeastern communities.[20]
Bhutan
Template:MainBhutan helped open up air routes from Northeast India to Southeast Asia in 2018.[21] In the same year, Bhutan also opened its second consulate in the easternmost portions of India in Guwahati, Assam.[22]
India
Present-day Northeast India started to be annexed into British India in the early 19th century to defend the eastern frontier from the incursions of the Burmese Empire, with Assam becoming part of the Bengal Presidency until 1874.[23]
The treatment of the Northeast as separate from the rest of India during the colonial era has continued to negatively impact its integration into the Republic of India.[24]
Nepal
Some retired Nepali troops settled in Northeast India (primarily in Sikkim) during the colonial era. In the present day, there has been some indigenous backlash to the Nepali diaspora.[25]
Sikkim's 1975 accession to India was influenced by its ties to Nepal, as its ethnically Nepali population felt discriminated against by the Sikkimese government and sought better treatment by joining India.[26]
Southeast Asia
India has sought to use Northeast India to connect to Southeast Asia for trading purposes. However, recent conflicts such as the 2023–2024 Manipur violence have reduced the stability of the region for this purpose.[27]
Myanmar
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Myanmar is the only Southeast Asian country that borders Northeast India. Both places were part of British India for several decades; the dynamics of British rule in the region, which was the first time that a pan-Indian empire had fully conquered the Northeastern South Asian space, and Myanmar's 1937 separation from Indian administration, still affect their border regions today.[28][29]
There are substantial cross-border ethnic ties, with the Indian government having allowed a limited amount of unregulated movement across the border from 2018 to 2024.[30]
Thailand
The Tai peoples (Tai-Ahom people) of Northeast India share ethnic and linguistic ties with Thai people.
See also
References
- ↑ Northeast at the heart of India's ASEAN policy, Shubhankar. IndBiz | Economic Diplomacy Division(2018-12-18). Retrieved 2025-05-31.
- ↑ The Birth and Burden of Northeast India – Sri Lanka Guardian, Guardian, Sri Lanka. slguardian.org(2024-12-31). Retrieved 2025-01-09.
- ↑ Act East policy boosts regional cooperation: Northeast India's economic corridors explored in roundtable conference. The Economic Times(2024-02-16). Retrieved 2024-09-02.
- ↑ Indian state part of China "since ancient times," Beijing says, Brar, Aadil. Newsweek(2024-03-29). Retrieved 2024-09-08.
- ↑ Explained: China issuing 'stapled visas' to Arunachal Pradesh players may concern national security; here's how. Livemint(28 July 2023). Retrieved 8 September 2024.
- ↑ Expedition turned Invasion: The 1888 Sikkim Expedition through British, Indian and Chinese eyes. Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society({Template:Date).
- ↑ Back off or China will readjust stance on Sikkim: Chinese daily. The Economic Times(2018-07-12). Retrieved 2025-01-26.
- ↑ Sikkim impasse: What is the India-China-Bhutan border standoff?. The Indian Express(2017-07-05). Retrieved 2025-01-26.
- ↑ Japan's Infrastructure Investment in Northeast India. thediplomat.com. Retrieved 2024-05-02.
- ↑ How India and Japan Zoomed in on Northeast India, Borah, Rupakjyoti. thediplomat.com(9 December 2019). Retrieved 2024-05-02.
- ↑ Northeast India and Japan: Engagement through Connectivity{{#if:|, {{{last}}}}. Routledge India(2021-09-30). ISBN 978-1-003-16502-6
- ↑ Locating Bangladesh in Japan's North-East India Ambition, Chowdhury, Doreen. Modern Diplomacy(2023-04-21). Retrieved 2024-05-02.
- ↑ 13.0 13.1 Why Northeast matters for India-Japan collaboration in Indo-Pacific (News Analysis). Business Standard(31 October 2018). Retrieved 2 May 2024.
- ↑ Japan Shares Good Reasons to Collaborate in Northeast India's Development | JAPAN Forward, Borah, Rupakjyoti. japan-forward.com(2021-03-14). Retrieved 2024-05-02.
- ↑ Locating Bangladesh in Japan's North-East India Ambition, Chowdhury, Doreen. Modern Diplomacy(2023-04-21). Retrieved 2024-05-02.
- ↑ The Impact of Bangladesh's Political Shift on North East India's Geopolitics and Security, Lamkang, Leivon Albert. Modern Diplomacy(2024-10-04). Retrieved 2024-11-29.
- ↑ Northeast's New Rail Route Via Bangladesh To Bypass 'Chicken's Neck'. Times Now(2024-06-16). Retrieved 2025-07-03.
- ↑ A Glimpse of Bangladesh's Political Crisis from Northeast India. The Morung Express(13 September 2024). Retrieved 2024-11-29.
- ↑ Assam: 'I was pushed across the border into Bangladesh at gunpoint'. www.bbc.com(2025-06-04). Retrieved 2025-06-06.
- ↑ How border trade restrictions are impacting lives, livelihoods in the northeast. Hindustan Times.
- ↑ Northeast India Gets Closer to ASEAN, Courtesy of Bhutan. thediplomat.com. Retrieved 2025-01-09.
- ↑ India's New Gateway to Bhutan. thediplomat.com. Retrieved 2025-01-09.
- ↑ How India's northeast rose against the British. The Times of India. Retrieved 2025-01-09.
- ↑ The Northeast dares India to reinvent Itself, Phanjoubam, Pradip. The New Indian Express(2024-12-04). Retrieved 2025-01-09.
- ↑ Migration and Development: The Nepalese in Northeast. European Bulletin of Himalayan Research({Template:Date).
- ↑ Letting go of Sikkim's ghost, Times, Nepali. nepalitimes.com(2021-07-03). Retrieved 2025-01-26.
- ↑ As Manipur Burns, India's Connectivity Plans in Southeast Asia Go Up in Smoke. thediplomat.com. Retrieved 2024-08-30.
- ↑ Ethnicity, Ideology and Religion: Separatist Movements in India’s Northeast Template:Webarchive Subir Bhaumik
- ↑ Tangled Lands: Burma and India's Unfinished Separation, 1937–1948. The Journal of Asian Studies({Template:Date).
- ↑ 'We're a single village': India seals Myanmar border, dividing families, Sharma, Yashraj. Al Jazeera. Retrieved 2024-08-30.