 | This article has multiple issues. Please help improve it or discuss these issues on the talk page . (Learn how and when to remove these messages)
|
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]
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]
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]
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 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]
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]
The north-east (NE) region of India lags behind the rest of the country in several development indicators. Although infrastructure has developed over the years, the region has to go a long way to level up the national standard. The total road network of about 377 thousand km of NE contributes about 9.94 per cent of the total roads in the country. Road density in terms of road length per thousand square kilometres. area is very poor in hilly state of Arunachal Pradesh, Mizoram, Meghalaya and Sikkim, while it is significantly high in Tripura and Assam. The road length per 100 km2 area in NE districts varies from as less as below 10 km (in Arunachal Pradesh) to more than 200 km (in Tripura). Other means of transport such as rail, air and water is insignificant in NE (except Assam); however, a few cities of these states having direct air connectivity in the region. The total railway network in the NE is 2,602 km (as on 2011), which is only about 4 per cent of the total rail network of the country. Constructions of roads build the road map for development and road is the only means of mass transport for the entire NE of India. Due to hilly terrain and varied altitudes, rail transport is mainly confined to Assam and water transport is almost non-existent.
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]
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 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]
The Tai peoples (Tai-Ahom people) of Northeast India share ethnic and linguistic ties with Thai people.
