Landlocked NE, LEP and changing geopolitics
- The Sangai Express Editorial :: August 07, 2014 -

India's Look East Policy, in which Myanmar plays a key role as the route for major connectivity between India's landlocked Northeast and Southeast Asia, needs to rise above "mere academic talk" to show "more concrete action", experts said at a talk programme held at Institute of Social Sciences, Delhi on the topic 'Look East Policy: India and Myanmar Pitching for Greater Connectivity" on August 4, 2014.

Rajiv K Bhatia, Director General of the Indian Council of World Affairs (ICWA) and former envoy to Myanmar, said mere "academic talk is no substitute for concrete action" in the development of the connectivity corridors. Senior journalist and author BG Varghese said the government has "structurally not got its act together" on the connectivity projects that are meant to link the landlocked Northeast with the Southeast Asian region.

These observations reflect a sense of urgency or a yearning to put into practice what the political bosses at New Delhi and Indian business barons have been craving for the past two decades or so.

The tones and contents of what were exchanged at the Institute of Social Sciences suggested that enough theoretical studies and academic analyses have been done and the Look East Policy is ready for enforcement on the ground.

Many experts who took part in the talk programme rightly emphasised on taking into confidence all stakeholders as well as facilitation of their active involvement in transforming LEP into a vibrant, result oriented policy. If Myanmar is a key partner of India's Look East policy, the North East region in general and Manipur in particular are the pivots of the entire policy.

However, in spite of occupying such a crucial site in the overall scheme, very little has been done to create public awareness about the policy, its likely impacts and prospects outside academic circle in the North East region.

If LEP has many prospects, the stakes are also equally high at least in the North East region.

Indian policy makers and political leaders more often than not attributed economic underdevelopment of the region to its disadvantageous geographical location and landlockedness. This argument is rather interesting.

Merits and demerits of a region's location are relative terms which cannot be defined in any absolute parameters.

This debate revolving around geographical location, geopolitics and economic development or backwardness can be contextualized in the North East region and its surrounding countries.

Yes, the region is remote from all directions but in terms of distance, the region is comparatively quite near to Bangladesh, Nepal, Myanmar, Bhutan and even China and Thailand than most other main Indian cities with the exception of Kolkata.

As much as it is an economic policy aimed at integrating the liberalized economy of India with the thriving economies of the ASEAN countries and beyond, the LEP is a composite politico-military strategy propelled by changing geo-political considerations.

This is understandable if one takes into account the ever rising Chinese influence among ASEAN countries and the decades old insurgency movement in North East region.

Given these existential realities, many are apprehensive that the LEP would come with a heavy baggage of military doctrines, and extensive militarization of the whole region.

Apart from its stated objectives of coupling the Indian economy with the thriving economies of South East Asia, LEP is also seen as an effective instrument for engaging Myanmar, perhaps the most isolated country on Earth till the last couple of years and thus, counter China's growing influence in South East Asia.

We hope, the North East region and Manipur are not reduced to mere interface of geopolitical engagement among India, China and ASEAN.