Role of Northeast India in India’s Look East Policy
U Than Tun, Member, Myanmar Institute of Strategic and International Studies (MISIS)

Delhi Dialogue VI provides us an opportunity to deliberate upon India’s Look East Policy in general and India’s relations with its eastern neighbors, ASEAN and its member countries in particular. Within ASEAN, India became a sectoral dialogue partner of ASEAN in 1992 and upgraded to full dialogue partner in 1996.

In 2012 December, ASEAN-India commemorated the 20th anniversary of dialogue level partnership and the 10th anniversary of Summit-level partnership with a Commemorative  Summit in New Delhi under the theme II ASEAN-India Partnership for Peace and Shared Prosperity”. The summit endorsed elevating the partnership to a “Strategic Partnership”. The leaders also adopted the “ASEAN-India Vision Statement” which charts the ASEAN-India Cooperation.

ASEAN-India Plan of Action 2010-15 envisages cooperation in a range of sectors in politic, economic, social-culture sphere for deepening and intensifying ASEAN-India cooperation. The ASEAN-India functional cooperation is also included in the cooperation across a range of various sectors.

India sees that it would be necessary to expend the existing relations between the people of Northeast India and ASEAN countries to promote its “Look East Policy” as well as its fast development with cooperation activities on people-to-people connectivity and to promote cultural and technical exchange programs.

In promoting “Look East Policy”, India feels that the greater involvement of India’s northeast is needed and necessary. The immediate neighbors, Southeast Asia is one of the arenas where Indian and Chinese have taken interest in terms of strategic, trade and economy.

India’s membership in the ARF has given it a voice in greater Asia.While interacting with ASEAN, India has paid particular attention to one of the ASEAN member countries – Myanmar. India’s relation with Myanmar is guided by its “Look East Policy” and as well as its fast development. There had been increasing realization on the part of India’s policy makers to develop physical connectivity between northeastern India and Southeast Asia, especially after Myanmar’s inclusion into ASEAN as a full member in 1997.

Myanmar stands as a hub as well as kingpin linking northeast India and ASEAN. Myanmar’s open-door policy after the political change in 2011 gave more opportunity to expend India- ASEAN strategic cooperation. For India, it is a pre-requisite to utilize the opportunities provided by its “Look East Policy”. As a result, India has initiated certain bilateral projects and also became party to some multilateral projects, aimed at enhancing connectivity between Northeast India and Southeast Asia.

In the region, there are ongoing and potential projects linking India, Myanmar and ASEAN countries. Those projects will help to promote ASEAN’s people-to-people connectivity and the cooperation activities of India’s “Look East Policy”.

There are India-Myanmar-ASEAN road maps for connectivity such as-

• Comprehensive Asian Development Plan, CADP
• Myanmar-India Economic Corridor (MIEC) to provide economic cooperation for India-Myanmar-Thailand.

• 

  Myanmar’s Comprehensive Development Vision (MCDV) As Myanmar will carry out as a hub of India’s “Look East Policy” and Thailand’s “Look West Policy”, India-Myanmar-Thailand trilateral highway project will promote border trade and people-to-people connectivity on tourism in the region. The project is expected to go under Myanmar- India Strategic Partnership in order to implement ASEAN-India’s cooperation by 2016.

We see more on-going projects in the pipelinesunder the strategic partnership such as:

• India-Myanmar railwaysto have an onward connectivity of 1360 kmstill Thailand
• Kaladen River multimodal transit transport project will become Sittwe Deep Sea Port.
• ASEAN Highway will be passing Moreh to Myanmar and willconnect Myanmar to Thailand and China.
• The Asian Highway linking Kawthoung-Myeik with Myawady-Tamu- Imphal will be emerged in 2018. This AH will contribute a tripartite economic development of Myanmar-Thailand- India.
• The Stilwell Road, it was widely known as Ledo Road during WWII that links from Ledo of Assam Province to Kachin State in Myanmar to Kuming in China.
• That will also link with Asian highways and extend up to India-Myanmar border. It will promote Myanmar-India border trade.

 

The ASEAN Economic Community that will emerge in 2015 gives an opportunity to India, especially with its northeast region, to cooperate more with ASEAN. Promoting the “Look East Policy” needs to connect India to ASEAN. India-ASEAN connectivity at the same time will lead to promoting regional integration and could further enhance growing economics with East Asia.

Without the strategic location of Myanmar which is bridged between South and Southeast Asia as a hub, it will become an obstacle for India’s “Look East Policy” realizing the India- ASEAN vision for partnership and prosperity.

The ASEAN Economic Community that will emerge in 2015 gives an opportunity to India, especially with its northeast region, to cooperate more with ASEAN. Promoting the “Look East Policy” needs to connect India to ASEAN. India-ASEAN connectivity at the same time will lead to promoting regional integration and could further enhance growing economics with East Asia.

Without the strategic location of Myanmar which is bridged between South and Southeast Asia as a hub, it will become an obstacle for India’s “Look East Policy” realizing the India- ASEAN vision for partnership and prosperity.

The strategic location and the present open-door policy of Myanmar welcomes and paves the way to promote India’s “Look East Policy” to be more promising and successful through its Northeastern region.

The strategic location and the present open-door policy of Myanmar welcomes and paves the way to promote India’s “Look East Policy” to be more promising and successful through its Northeastern region.