Connecting a large part of South Asia with Southeast Asia 

(MainsGS2: Bilateral, regional and global groupings and agreements involving India and/or affecting India’s interests.)

Context:

• The third India-Japan Intellectual Dialogue hosted by the Asian Confluence (ASCON), in Agartala, Tripura, was an ideal opportunity to assess the evolving thinking of experts and policymakers. 
• It showed that the current decade may produce path-breaking changes in the northeast, bringing the troika of Bangladesh, India and Japan closer.

Huge potential:

• India’s northeastern States overcame several (but not all) security challenges and is now heading toward economic development. 
• The region comprises India’s eight northeastern States Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Tripura, and Sikkim.
• The northeast is blessed with vast natural resources and its strategic location, sharing borders with Nepal, Bhutan, China, Bangladesh and Myanmar, is an asset. 
• Creating value chains and manufacturing products should encompass diverse sectors such as agro-processing, man-made fibres, handicrafts, assembly of two-wheelers and perhaps mobile phones, and pharmaceuticals.
• The population, with its good education, already excels in the services sector drawing potential investor attention.

Infrastructure development:

• One of the most important projects in the region is the development of the Matarbari Deep Sea Port (DSP) on the southeastern coast of Bangladesh. 
• It is being constructed with Japanese assistance and is scheduled to be operational in 2027 which a recent ASCON study envisages as a port to be “a game changer”. 
• To be optimally viable, the port will have to cater to the needs of Bangladesh and India’s northeast. 
• The long-term vision is for Bangladesh and the northeast to become a hub and key industrial corridor of this region, serving a population of 220 million.

Competitive advantage:

• While increased connectivity of roads and railways is important, it is not enough without the creation of regional industrial value chains. 
• Hence, rapid industrialisation in the sectors where the northeast enjoys competitive advantage assumes significance. 
• This plan is sound because it ensures that the new connectivity links will be fully utilized and productive. 
• Roads and ports must be accompanied by job opportunities that can come only from new industrial enterprises set up with national and foreign investment. 
• A joint focus on comprehensive connectivity and accelerating industrialisation in Bangladesh and the northeast is likely to be a priority.

Way forward:

• When issues of regional cooperation and integration are discussed, scant attention seems to be paid to the Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC), which is self-defeating. 
• This must change so that the group progresses towards its vision of establishing the Bay of Bengal Community (BOBC).
• The goal of connecting a large part of South Asia with Southeast Asia requires an astute pilot. 
• This leadership can come from the triad of Bangladesh, India and Japan (BIJ). 
• Thus, a BIJ Forum should be launched first at the level of Foreign Ministers, a move that will be welcome in the northeast.