Look east policy with special reference to northeast

Look east policy with special reference to northeast

 

 

 

During the last one year, India's northeast has emerged as a major focus of discussion in India's Look East Policy (LEP). Various ministries in the central government, such as those of External Affairs (MEA), Trade and Commerce, and Development of North Eastern Region have been projecting the LEP and integration with Southeast Asia as the panacea for overcoming the political and security challenges facing the region. The Public Diplomacy Division of the MEA has organized various conclaves, spelling out the strategic necessity for the northeastern states to look towards Southeast Asia and the benefits that can accrue to the region. Not to be left behind, the provincial governments have begun showcasing their natural and human resources and investment potential, guaranteeing handsome returns to foreign investors. Various Northeast Trade and Investment weeks were organized in New Delhi, Guwahati and Bangkok in 2007.

These policy pronouncements and deliberations have generated a new euphoria among the makers of foreign policy regarding the prospect of countering challenges of insurgency and external vulnerability in the northeast by augmenting development and connecting it both with mainstream India and Southeast Asia. If the LEP offers a golden opportunity for the development of the northeastern states, why is the northeast being asked to look east only 15 years after the LEP was articulated in 1992?

In fact, the courtship between India's Northeast and the LEP began soon after India embarked on engaging the CLMV (Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar and Vietnam) countries, which were gradually being included in the ASEAN framework. It was due to the politico-strategic vulnerability of the northeast that India began engaging Myanmar and gave up its policy of isolating the ruling military junta. A new stimulus to positioning the northeastern states within the LEP came in the form of India's sub-regional initiatives such as Bangladesh-India-Sri Lanka-Thailand Economic Cooperation (BISTEC, later BIMSTEC) and Mekong Ganga Cooperation (MGC) which entailed connecting northeastern states with Southeast Asia through road networks.

However, the scope of the engagement remained extremely modest as both the initiatives failed to take off in the face of constant resistance from India's security establishment, represented mainly by the Ministry of Home Affairs and Defence. It was often argued that opening up of borders and greater physical connectivity would expose the region to enhanced scale of armed infiltration and greater degree of external vulnerability. The Northeast's remaining rugged terrain, and an impregnable and inaccessible frontier best suited the security establishment. As a result, efforts towards greater connectivity were stymied by northeastern states' extremely limited connectivity within their own borders. The idea of Moreh-Tamu-Kalewa-Kalemyo road was conceptualized in 1993 but the construction work was completed only in 2001.

The re-positioning of India's Northeast in the LEP brings us to the question - what is so distinct about the new-found necessity of Northeast looking east?

The overall approach to identifying security risks in the region has shifted away from insurgency and the China-threat theory to economic backwardness and limited integration with mainstream India. It is now being argued that an economically underdeveloped northeast is more prone to insurgency, political instability and external security threats. Creating stakeholders by engaging the regional resources in developmental activities and building local capacity would help the Indian state expand the constituencies for peace in the region. Such an approach is being facilitated by the announcement of new ambitious projects, large-scale investment, and entrepreneurial incentives. For example, the energies of the youth could be channelized in a more positive manner by engaging them in developmental activities. While speaking at the Guwahati Conclave in June 2007, Jairam Ramesh, Minister of State for Trade and Commerce, clearly spelt out that the future of India's Northeast lies in "emotional and political integration with the rest of India and economic integration with the rest of Asia."

What are the key agents of such a turnaround in India's policy towards the northeast? Three factors can be identified. First, the Indian economy has registered high growth rates during the last five years. The foreign investment in the country has tripled during the last three years. Second, India's northeastern states are located at the junction of three most important engines of Asian economic growth - mainstream India, ASEAN and China. Finally, there is a greater desire among foreign and Indian companies to invest in the region. The Commerce Minister of Thailand, Krik Krai Jirapet, visited three Northeast Indian states in June 2007 along with a big delegation of Thai corporate leaders.

The newfound discourse of development has, in fact, emerged as the most powerful challenge, till date to the prevailing security mindset among policymakers. The developmental discourse represents everything which was once considered detrimental to India's security. However, a great deal would depend on how the central and provincial governments implement the projects and allow the benefits of development to percolate to the common people of the region.

Conclusion:

Look East policy with the development of infrastructure, connectivity and tourism in the northeastern states that act as a bridge between India and Southeast Asia.

northeastern states that focused on finding practical ways to translate the Look East policy into development of the region.

This policy has resulted in an impressive increase in the quantum of bilateral trade and more people-to-people interaction..

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The chief ministers of northeastern states laid stress on enhancing connectivity and infrastructure in the region, capacity building, future potential for export and tourism, the possibility of institutional cooperation in training and research.

They also underlined the ongoing action state governments are taking to dovetail national development strategies with various foreign policy initiatives.

 

 

Saleem Asraf Syed Imdaadullah
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