ABOUT THE BOOK
fjrigjwwe9r0pp_Books:Description
This book deals with the prospect and potential of
development of India’s North-Eastern Region (NER) through sub-regional
cooperation with the neighbouring members of the Association of Southeast Asian
Nations (ASEAN). Although landlockedness has long stunted the economic growth
of NER, with ASEAN-India as well as India-Bangladesh connectivity projects
gathering pace, the silver lining is appearing on the horizon. The completion
of India-Myanmar-Thailand (IMT) Trilateral Highway connecting Moreh (Manipur)
with Mae Sot (Thailand) across Myanmar will land-link the region with the ASEAN
countries. Further extension of the Highway till Vietnam and Cambodia, as is
being envisaged, will take the north-eastern region even closer to the ASEAN.
Likewise, India is extending railways to Manipur which will eventually be
connected with the rail network of Myanmar as a part of the Asian Development
Bank’s Trans-Asian Railway project. Besides, the Kaladan Multi-Modal Transit
Transportation Project (KMTTP) will open up maritime route for the
north-eastern region by connecting India`s eastern ports with the Sittwe port
in Myanmar. Again, Sittwe port will be connected with the riverine port of
Paletwa on Kaladan river from where Lawngtlai in Mizoram will be connected by
road.
With the connectivity problem about to be resolved, in
what ways would the north-eastern region engage with her South East Asian neighbours?
What are the nodes of sub-regional cooperation that can benefit both NER and
ASEAN? How can we enumerate and strategize the potential strength of the region
which she can offer to her neighbours and identify the essential requirements
that she can pick up from them? What role the other stakeholders (state and
non-state actors) can play in synchronizing domestic economic initiatives in
tune with the needs of the markets in neighbouring countries? How to map the
various activity-, product-, service-, specific strengths of the different
states in the region for which there are demands across the borders? Which
cross-border projects are viable? How can we re-imagine the `border` as a
conceptual apparatus for bridgability rather than a dividing entity of people
on either side? How can the community bonding be used to promote a uniform
social space in a group which is territorially divided?
ABOUT Author
fjrigjwwe9r0pp_Books:aboutAuthor
Ujjwal
Kanti Paul teaches Marketing at the National Institute of Technology,
Silchar.
Gurudas
Das teaches Economics at the National Institute of Technology,
Silchar.
C
Joshua Thomas is Deputy Director at the ICSSR North Eastern Regional Centre,
Shillong and also Coordinator, ASEAN Studies Centre, Shillong.