The East Asian countries of Japan and Korea have significant contemporary influence over and cultural similarities with Northeast India; Northeast India engages to a significant extent with Korean and Japanese culture and has been receiving infrastructural investment from Japan. Northeast India also has substantial historical connections to Southeast Asia; India's Act East policy seeks to harness this connectivity in the modern day. [1]
China claims the border state of Arunachal Pradesh as part of South Tibet, which has resulted in tensions between India and China. [2] 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. [3]
Historically, Northeast India and Japan have been connected to some extent through Buddhism; other cultural similarities have existed for millennia, such as in food and through an appreciation for nature. [4] [5] During World War 2, the Japanese military collaborated with the Indian National Army in the region; [6] eventually, the westward expansion of the Japanese Empire was put to a stop in Northeast India in the 1944 Battle of Imphal. Since then, Japan has contributed to the construction of infrastructure in the region. [7] Northeast Indians consume some Japanese cultural products as well, such as anime. [4]
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, [8] 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. [9] Northeast India, in conjunction with the neighboring BIMSTEC country of Bangladesh, is seen by Japan as an important region in containing China, [10] [11] while India seeks to use its northeastern region to increase engagement with Southeast Asia. [11] The geographical similarities between Northeast India and Japan, as well as India's guarding of its northeast as a sensitive border region that it is unwilling to allow untrusted partner countries to invest in, are other major factors leading to India desiring Japan's involvement in the region. [12] [13]
Northeast India has often felt alienated from the rest of India (sometimes referred to as "mainland India"), leading it in recent decades to look towards phenotypically and culturally similar parts of Asia in the east for connection. Part of this alienation is due to local insurgents and others banning Hindi cinema and other potential tools of "Indianization" in the region. [14] [15] [16] In this context, Korean culture has become popular in Northeast India, with Korean words becoming increasingly prevalent in the local languages. [17] Korean food has also become increasingly popular at local restaurants. [18] The popularity of Korean culture that emerged in Northeast India has since spread to the rest of India in recent years. [16] One aspect of Korean culture's popularity in Northeast India is its ability to incorporate Christian principles in a non-Western manner, making it more relatable in some ways to Northeast Indian youth than Western culture. [19]
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. [20]
Myanmar is the only Southeast Asian country that borders Northeast India. 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. [21]
Arunachal Pradesh is a state in northeast India. It was formed from the North-East Frontier Agency (NEFA) region, and India declared it as a state on 20 February 1987. Itanagar is its capital and largest town. It borders the Indian states of Assam and Nagaland to the south. It shares international borders with Bhutan in the west, Myanmar in the east, and a disputed 1,129 km border with China's Tibet Autonomous Region in the north at the McMahon Line. Arunachal Pradesh is claimed by China as South Tibet as part of the Tibet Autonomous Region; China occupied some regions of Arunachal Pradesh in 1962 but later withdrew its forces.
The III Corps is a formation of the Indian Army that was formed during World War I in Mesopotamia during its respective campaign. Prior to the reorganization of the British and Indian forces in Mesopotamia, it was designated as the Tigris Corps.
Northeast India, officially the North Eastern Region (NER), is the easternmost region of India representing both a geographic and political administrative division of the country. It comprises eight states—Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland and Tripura, and the "brother" state of Sikkim.
The Insurgency in Northeast India involves multiple separatist militant groups operating in some of India's northeastern states, which are connected to the rest of India by the Siliguri Corridor, a strip of land as narrow as 14.29 miles (23.00 km) wide.
UTC+06:00 is an identifier for a time offset from UTC of +06:00. This time is used in:
The Ministry of Development of North Eastern Region is a Government of India ministry, established in September 2001, which functions as the nodal Department of the Central Government to deal with matters related to the socio-economic development of the eight States of Northeast India: Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Tripura and Sikkim. It acts as a facilitator between the Central Ministries/ Departments and the State Governments of the North Eastern Region in the economic development including removal of infrastructural bottlenecks, provision of basic minimum services, creating an environment for private investment and to remove impediments to lasting peace and security in the North Eastern Region.
The following outline is provided as an overview of, and topical guide to, India:
The Act East policy is an effort by the Government of India to cultivate extensive economic and strategic relations with the nations of Southeast Asia to bolster its standing as a regional power and a counterweight to the strategic influence of the People's Republic of China. Initiated in 1991, the Look East policy by Indian government marked a strategic shift in India’s perspective of the world. It was developed and enacted during the government of Prime Minister Narsimha Rao (1991–1996) and rigorously pursued by the successive administrations of Atal Bihari Vajpayee (1998–2004) and Manmohan Singh (2004–2014).
The Trans-Arunachal Highway (TAH), which includes an existing 1,811 km (1,125 mi) route comprising NH-13 and parts of NH-15, NH-215 and SH-25, is an under-construction 2-lane more than 2,407 km (1,496 mi) long highway passing through 16 districts in Arunachal Pradesh state in India. It runs from LAC in Tawang in northwest to Kanubari in southeast at tri-junction of Assam-Nagaland-Arunachal Pradesh. It connects at least 16 districts of Arunachal Pradesh.
There are several disputed territories of India. A territorial dispute is a disagreement over the possession or control of land between two or more states or over the possession or control of land by a new state and occupying power after it has conquered the land from a former state no longer currently recognized by the new state.
Arunachal Frontier Highway (AFH), officially notified as the National Highway NH-913 and also called Bomdila-Vijaynagar Highway (BVH), connecting Bomdila Airstrip ALG & HQ in northwest to Vijaynagar Airstrip ALG & HQ in southeast via Nafra HQ-Sarli HQ-Huri Helipad ALG & HQ-Nacho HQ-Mechuka Airstrip ALG & HQ-Monigong HQ-Jido -Hunli HQ-Hayuliang Airstrip ALG HQ-Chenquenty-Hawai HQ-Miao HQ including 800 km greenfield section and network of new tunnels & bridges, is a 2-lane paved-shoulder under-construction national highway along the India-China LAC-McMahon Line border in the Indian state of Arunachal Pradesh. The 1,748 km-long (1,086 mi) highway itself will cost ₹27,000 crore and total cost including 6 additional inter-corridors is ₹40,000 crore. In some places, this highway will run as close as 20 km from the LAC. To be constructed by MoRTH in 9 packages, all packages will be approved by the end of fy 2024-25 and construction will be completed in 2 years by 31 March 2027. Of the total route, 800km is greenfield, rest brownfield will be upgraded and tunnels will be built. This highway in the north & east Arunachal along the China border, would complement the Trans-Arunachal Highway and the Arunachal East-West Corridor as major highways spanning the whole state, pursuing the Look East connectivity policy.
Vijaynagar is the most remote town and circle headquarters in the Changlang district, Arunachal Pradesh, India.
East-West Industrial Corridor Highway of Arunachal Pradesh, a 2-lane and 966.78 km long including existing 274.20 km Pasighat-Manmao route, is a proposed highway across lower foothills of Arunachal Pradesh state in India from Bhairabkunda in Assam at tri-junction of Bhutan-Assam-Arunachal Pradesh in west to Kanubari tri-junction of Nagaland-Assam-Arunachal Pradesh in east.
India–Myanmar–Thailand Trilateral Highway, 1,360 km (850 mi) long route, is a 4-lane highway under construction under India's Look East policy that will connect Moreh, India with Mae Sot, Thailand via Myanmar. Imphal-Mandalay-Bangkok 1,813 km (1,127 mi) route, consisting of Imphal-Mandalay 584 km (363 mi) and Mandalay-Bangkok 1,397 km (868 mi), is a highway in good condition except for 101 km (63 mi) part of 120 km (75 mi) long Kalewa-Yagyi stretch being built to 2-lane in each direction highway by India.
Tawang Air Force station in Arunachal Pradesh in India has a functional heliport and fixed-wing "Advanced Landing Ground" (AGL) capable of handling Lockheed Martin C-130J Super Hercules transport aircraft. The Indian Air Force (IAF) has since 2016 upgraded 8 ALG in Arunachal Pradesh and made those operation by 2018, all of which has been offered for the operation of civil helicopter and flights for tourism and the UDAN scheme.
Kaho is a small village on the banks of the Lohit River on the India-China Line of Actual Control in the Anjaw district in the Indian state of Arunachal Pradesh.
Eastern South Asia is a geographical area in South Asia. It includes the countries of Bangladesh, Bhutan, India and Nepal. Geographically, it lies between the Eastern Himalayas and the Bay of Bengal. Two of the world's largest rivers, the Ganges and the Brahmaputra, flow into the sea through the Bengal region. The region includes the world's highest mountainous terrain, the Himalayas, and the world's largest delta, the Ganges Delta, and has a climate ranging from alpine and subalpine to subtropical and tropical. Since Nepal, Bhutan, Northeast India and parts of East India are landlocked, the coastlines of Bangladesh and East India serve as the principal gateways to the region.
The hill tribes of Northeast India are hill people, mostly classified as Scheduled Tribes (STs), who live in the Northeast India region. This region has the largest proportion of scheduled tribes in the country.
The India–Myanmar border is the international border between India and Myanmar. The border is 1,643 kilometres (1,021 mi) in length and runs from the tripoint with China in the north to the tripoint with Bangladesh in the south.
North Eastern Railway Connectivity Project is an multi phased railway connectivity project in Northeast India which comprises states of Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland and Tripura and it also includes the state of Sikkim. These states come under Northeast Frontier Railway Zone of Indian Railways. This Railway project is considered as strategically important for India because it connects all the border states in this region and also close to ASEAN countries.
