India’s Northeastern region bordering Myanmar plays a critical role in the ‘Act East’ Policy and serves as a potential link to ASEAN.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s ‘neighbourhood first’ and ‘Act East’ policies got a fresh boost with the recently concluded four-day visit to India by Myanmar’s State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi. The two leaders gave out enough indications they were pursuing a development partnership that would take bilateral ties to a higher level.

Prime Minister Modi said India’s financial commitment of US$1.75 billion is ‘people centric’, meaning the development projects were aimed at the welfare of the people of Myanmar. In fact, Northeast India, sharing a 1,640 km-long land border with Myanmar, holds the key in this development partnership. This makes it imperative to take a close look at this far-eastern Indian frontier and the linkages that can be established through Myanmar to ASEAN.

… Nazia Hussain is a Research Analyst with the Office of the Executive Deputy Chairman, S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies (RSIS), Nanyang Technological University, Singapore.