External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar has rightly stressed on the need to improve connectivity between the Northeast region and neighbouring countries. In the recently held Asian Confluence River Conclave at Guwahati, Jaishankar presented a detailed outline of India’s ‘Act East’ policy citing its immense potential. The Minister expressed hope that with an improved road and sea link, India will have easy access to South and Southeast Asian countries. He stressed that the initiative will be benefitted by the recently constituted Indo-Pacific Economic Framework. He further informed that to achieve the goal, India has already decided to revive six rail links with neighbouring Bangladesh, which have been dormant since 1965 and revealed that many such initiatives are in the pipeline.
Undoubtedly, such a move will open new vistas for trade and commerce, which will certainly provide a boost to the Northeastern economy and help the region to remove the tag of backwardness. Many believe that snapping of the traditional links between the Northeast and the neighbouring countries is one of the main causes of backwardness of the region. As the region is geographically isolated from mainland India, it is very difficult for the Northeast region to establish an effective business link with other parts of the country. Instead, it would be easier for the region to trade with countries like Bangladesh, Myanmar and beyond. There is enough evidence of trade ties between the two sides in the past, which came to an abrupt halt after the Second World War when artificial borders were drawn ignoring the advantages of traditional links. For example, travel time from the Northeastern region to Kolkata, the erstwhile financial nerve center of both the Eastern and Northeastern India, was much less in pre-Independence era as there was no bar to travel via Bangladesh. Due to its geographical location, it is easy for landlocked Mizoram to trade with Myanmar and Bangladesh, instead of sending its products to the mainland by road as major Indian cities are thousands of miles away from the state. The trade bottleneck of the region can only be removed if New Delhi expedites the process of improving connectivity infrastructure. In this context, the proposal for complete reopening of the historic Stilwell Road should be considered favourably.
The reopening of traditional trade routes will immensely help the economic development process of the Northeastern region. Thus, creating a proper connectivity infrastructure by reviving traditional trade links, as well as creating new routes, should be accorded top priority, along with removing bureaucratic obstacles. It is a known fact that trucks have to endlessly wait at international borders before crossing over to complete various formalities. The troublesome process should be streamlined for the sake of strengthening business ties with neighbouring countries. At this juncture one can only hope that the policies regarding improved connectivity will be implemented in true letter and spirit, so that the fruits of development reach all sections of society.