Linking Northeast India with its Neighbouring Countries: Ethnic Perceptions and Possible Consequences

Abstract

Since the end of Cold War and the resulting spread of globalisation, the world has witnessed an increasing trend towards regional integration. Regional integration is stimulated by cross-border activities on a sub-regional level. With the growing trends towards regional integration, the Government of India enunciated the Look East Policy in 1991 with the aim of developing multifaceted linkage with the countries of East and Southeast Asia. With an endeavour to reinforce the Look East policy and link the Northeastern region to the dynamic economies of East and Southeast Asia, India join several sub-regional groupings. BIMSTEC is one of such sub-regional groupings and is considered to be an important step towards linking the geographically contiguous member countries.

To facilitate trade and improve infrastructure in the region, India open border trade at Moreh, Champhai and Nathula, and built the Indo-Myanmar Friendship Road connecting Tamu and Kalaymyo-Kalewa. There are several other projects on highways, railways, transit project, optical fiber network, etc. linking Northeast India with its neighbouring countries. Several of these projects pass through Moreh and the border town has a special place as the first and only thriving trading point in the region. The vicinity of Moreh is inhabited by the Kukis on both side of the international border. In this paper an attempt is made to study the perceptions of the Kukis on such linkages and its possible consequences.

Paper presented at International Seminar on From Land Locked to Land Linked: Northeast India in BIMSTEC, 8-9th April 2010, NEHU, India.

Keywords: Northeast India, BIMSTEC, Kukis, India's Look East policy

JEL Classification: International Trade, International Economics, Political Economy