After Gujarat and Himachal, focus will shift to Northeast polls

As the dust settles on Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh elections and their outcomes, the focus will shift to the northeast. Assembly elections in Tripura, Meghalaya and Nagaland are expected to be held in February next year.

What is interesting is that until recently, elections in the northeastern states – they are smaller in size– grabbed little media attention. But the outcome of the election results will have grave significance in the overall political landscape of the country, especially with Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s thrust on the Act East programme.

The Northeast is the crucial link for India as it connects not just the neighbouring countries including Bangladesh, Myanmar, Bhutan, Nepal and China, it also opens the door for Japan to deepen its cultural influence and boost people to people connectivity.

The Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) is set to highlight issues related to overall development, connectivity and infrastructure during the campaign.

Construction of over 1,900 km of roads has been completed in the last two years. The Centre is now planning to develop international airports in the northeastern states, which already have 14 airports.  Last year, the Pakyong Airport in Sikkim and Rupsi Airport in Assam too became operational.

In developing infrastructure in the region, Japan, among the foreign players, has taken the lead.

Tokyo, which has an ageing society, has already pressed the pedal to expand its presence in the region. It has invested about $2 billion so far. But the number is set to rise. Investments in the region allows Tokyo to expand its Free and Open Indo Pacific Vision (FOIP) aimed at keeping the trade route around this region free while for India, an increased investment in the northeast with a thrust on infrastructure development augurs well with Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Act East policy,

It also helps Japan deepen its cultural influence and boost people-to-people connect.

Japan has sizeable investments in Myanmar and Bangladesh. “India’s Northeast is the missing link, which will help Japan bridge the gap,” the Diplomat said, adding that New Delhi will benefit since the infrastructure in this region has lagged behind and this requires heavy lifting on the part of India. But developing and connecting the northeast would also mean opening a channel with the southeast Asian nation. The news organisation pointed out that developing infrastructure and connectivity in the region would help India and Japan counter the influence of China’s much hyped Belt and Road Initiative (BRI).

The Northeast is the crucial link for India as it connects not just the neighbouring countries including Bangladesh, Myanmar, Bhutan, Nepal and China but also serves as the gateway to Southeast Asia.

In fact, Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina during her visit to India invited the chief ministers of the northeastern states along with the Union Minister for Development of the Northeast Region (DoNER) to Dhaka to discuss ways to integrate and expand trade and other economic activities.

“The northeast for years did not receive the kind of attention it deserves. However, the situation is changing now with the Act East policy,” Ashish Nath Professor, Department of Economics, Tripura University said, adding that several infrastructure projects are already underway in the northeastern states.

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