Mainstreaming the Northeast in India’s Look and Act East Policy

349 Pages·2018·4.08 MB·English

by  Atul Sarma

Mainstreaming
the Northeast
in India’s Look
and Act East
Policy
Edited by
Atul Sarma and Saswati Choudhury
’
Mainstreaming the Northeast in India s Look
and Act East Policy
(cid:129)
Atul Sarma Saswati Choudhury
Editors
Mainstreaming the
’
Northeast in India s
Look and Act East
Policy
Editors
AtulSarma SaswatiChoudhury
HonoraryVisitingProfessor OKDInstituteofSocialChangeand
InstituteforHumanDevelopment Development
NewDelhi,India Guwahati,Assam
India
ISBN978-981-10-5319-1 ISBN978-981-10-5320-7 (eBook)
DOI10.1007/978-981-10-5320-7
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Acknowledgements
Thisvolumeistheoutcomeofthecollectivethoughts,ideasandeffortsof
a constellation of scholars and policy-makers brought together at the
“
International Conference on Look (Act) East Policy and North East
”
India organized by the OKD Institute of Social Change and Develop-
–
ment,GuwahationSeptember25 26,2015atGuwahatiastheconclud-
’
ing event of the Institute s Silver Jubilee Celebration.
NortheastIndiaiscontinentalgatewayforIndiatoaccesstheemerging
’
economicfrontiersofSouthEastAsia.Theproclamation ofIndia sLook
’
EastPolicystimulatedexcitementthattheregion sproximitytoaswellas
its historical linkages with South East Asian nations would help it to
establish strong cultural, social and economic ties. There was an under-
standing among the development experts from the region that such an
integration with South East Asia would transform the region as a hub of
international cooperation, trade and investment. Even so, the Northeast
perspectivewithintheLookEastPolicy(LEP)frameworkfoundaplaceat
fi
the of cial level only in October, 2007. However, the excitement con-
tinued to be mere rhetoric during the last two decades. It has always
fi
intriguedmeastowhereNortheastIndia guresintheoverallperspective
’
ofIndia sLookEastPolicy.ItiswiththisconcernthatIproposedtheidea
v
vi Acknowledgements
to the Institute to organize a conference as part of its Silver Jubilee
Celebration which would address two vital questions: What has been
the real status of Northeast India in the overall Look East Policy of
India? And what needs to be done to mainstream Northeast India in the
Look East Policy framework?
I express my gratitude to the Institute and esteemed members of the
Governing Body of the Institute and the Advisory Committee of the
Silver Jubilee Celebration of the Omeo Kumar Das Institute of Social
Change and Development (OKDISCD) for accepting my proposal for
organizing this conference which saw the participation of academics,
diplomats, bureaucrats, media representatives, and business and industry
representatives both from within the country and abroad.
Professor Bhupen Sarmah, Director OKDISCD, has been a strong
support behind this entire process and took a personal interest in the
conference. Hisengagementand supportateverystephad animprinton
thesuccessoftheconference.ProfessorSarmahhasbeenkeenthatIbring
togetherandeditthedeliberationsandcontributionsoftheparticipantsin
the form of a book. I sincerely acknowledge the support I received from
him and the Institute in completing this work.
Iwouldalsoliketoexpressmygratitudetothepublisher,Springer,for
accepting this book for publication. In particular I would like to thank
Sagarika Ghosh and Nupoor Singh for their editorial guidance and
Ms. Britta Ramaraj for production guidance. Their continuous support
fi fi
at the Springer India of ce has nally made it possible to publish this
volume. Iam grateful to the reviewers for recommendingthe manuscript
for publication.
IshouldexplicitlyacknowledgethatDr.SaswatiChoudhuryhasshareda
heavyburdeninbringingtogetherthecontributionsintopublishableform.
In the same breath, Iwould like to place on record my appreciation of
our young faculty, Mr. Akshay Jyoti Sarma, who was one of the coordi-
natorsoftheConferenceandcontributedimmenselyintheentireprocess
from its beginning. His contribution is no less than that of an editor.
I thank all the panellists including the discussants and session chairs
and other esteemed guests present during the Conference whose partici-
pationenrichedthedeliberations,andIexpressmysincereappreciationof
all the contributors who submitted their papers for this volume.
Acknowledgements vii
My esteemed friend, M. P. Bezbaruah, Former Member of the North
Eastern Council (NEC) and Former Secretary, Ministry of Tourism,
GovernmentofIndia,whohasbeenactivelyinvolvedwiththeNortheast
’
region s development issues, contributed to the conceptualization of the
Conference and also made a valuable contribution as a panellist. I am
grateful to Mr C. K. Das, Member of the NEC, whose goodwill and
support to the Institute is immense. Taking part in the deliberations and
discussions during the Conference, he raised many critical policy issues
that need to be addressed immediately for mainstreaming the Northeast
in the Look East Policy.
ShriK.V.Eapen,IAS, AdditionalChief Secretary atthe Planning and
DevelopmentDepartment,GovernmentofAssam,playedaverysupport-
ive and encouraging role and extended his guidance to the Institute at
various stages during the organization of the Conference and also made
valuable contributions. I also acknowledge the support received by the
fi
InstitutefromthePlanningandDevelopmentDepartmentanditsof cials.
MrAmeisingLuikham,IAS,FormerSecretaryoftheNEC,alsotooka
keen interest in the Conference and was instrumental in initiating the
fi
process of extending nancial support to the Institute from the NEC.
Later his successor, Shri Ram Muivah, IAS, extended his support. Shri
W. Synrem, IES, Economic Adviser (Evaluation and Monitoring) NEC,
and Shri Gautam Chintey, Adviser (Banking Industries and Tourism)
fi
NEC,playedanactiveroleinextending nancialsupporttotheInstitute
for organizing the Conference. I am also thankful to Shri D. Khound,
IES,EconomicAdviser(HR)forhissupportandcooperationinobtaining
fi
nancial support.
IalsoexpressmysinceregratitudetotheMinistryofHomeAffairsand
Ministry of External Affairs, Government of India for extending the
necessary support in inviting scholars from South East Asian countries
to the Conference.
ImustacknowledgethesupportandhelpreceivedbytheInstitutefrom
DrAlaka Srivastava NationalandInternationalSeminar Division,Indian
Council of Social Science Research (ICSSR) New Delhi in obtaining
fi
nancial assistance from (ICSSR) to organize the Conference.
I also appreciate the support and encouragement received during this
entire process from Professor Indranee Dutta, Professor Kalyan Das,
viii Acknowledgements
Dr. Joydeep Baruah, Dr. Arunima Deka, Dr. Joseph K. Lalfakzuala and
Dr. Monjit Borthakur all members ofthe faculty, OKDISCD.I acknowl-
edgethesupportfromtheAdministrationofOKDISCDincompletingthis
entire task.
—
I extend my appreciation and thanks to the team of rapporteurs
Dr.ArunimaDeka,AssistantProfessorOKDISCD,Ms.UpashanaKhanikar
and Ms. Marilyn Varte, both Research Associates at OKDISCD who have
doneagreatjob.Mr.BiswaRanjanSharma,ResearchAssociate,OKDISCD
deserves appreciation for his help in formatting the different papers and
compilingthem intoone document.
I extend my sincere thanks to everyone who was a part of this Confer-
enceandcontributedinvariouswaystowardsthesuccessfulcompletionof
the entire process, culminating in the publication of this volume.
Atul Sarma
Contents
1 Towards a Perspective on the Look (Act) East Policy and
Northeast India 1
Atul Sarma and Saswati Choudhury
1.1 Introduction 1
’
1.2 Northeast India and India s Look East Policy 4
1.3 MainstreamingNortheastIndiaintheLook(Act)East
Policy of India 9
1.4 The Way Forward 11
1.5 Chapter Scheme 14
References 20
PartI NortheastIndiaUndertheAegisoftheLookEastPolicy 23
2 Integrating Northeast with South East Asia: Great
Expectations and Ground Realities 25
Atul Sarma
2.1 Introduction 25
2.2 How Does Market Integration Work? 27
ix
x Contents
2.3 Lessons from the Past Internationalization
of the Assam Economy 27
’
2.4 India s Look East Policy and the Vision
for the Northeast 32
2.5 The Northeast to be a Gateway to East and
South East Asia 33
2.6 What Has the Look East Policy Meant to the
Northeast So Far? 36
2.7 Is the Northeast Ready? 37
References 43
’
3 Insider or an Outsider: Where Is the Northeast in India s
Act East Policy? 45
Rakhee Bhattacharya
3.1 Introduction 45
3.2 Why Was LEP Formulated in India in the 1990s? 48
3.3 Was the Northeast Ever in This Policy Frame? 49
3.4 Are the Ground Realities for the Northeast Changing? 54
3.5 Is the Northeast Now Ready to Leverage from the
AEP? 56
References 61
4 Look East Policy and Northeast India: Is It a
Conjectured Vision 63
Gorky Chakraborty
4.1 Introduction 63
“ ”
4.2 A Borderless World 65
“ ” “ ”
4.3 From Look East to Act East Policy 67
4.4 Selected Macroeconomic Indicators of NEI 69
4.4.1 Composition of Net State Domestic Product
and Contribution of Labour 70
4.4.2 Regional Income 72
4.4.3 Formal Trade with Neighbouring Countries 72
4.4.4 InformalTradewithNeighbouringCountries 76
4.4.4.1 Myanmar 76
4.4.4.2 Bangladesh 77