ISAS Briefs

India’s President Pranab Mukherjee made a three-day visit to Arunachal Pradesh and Nagaland in the country’s Northeast region. In Arunachal Pradesh he attended the convocation ceremony at the Rajiv Gandhi University, and addressed the Legislative Assembly. He graced the celebration of the 50th anniversary of Nagaland’s statehood and inaugurated the 10-day long Hornbill Festival. The visit is significant in three aspects, re-asserting India’s sovereignty over Arunachal Pradesh, reiterating Northeast’s centrality to India’s ‘Look-East’ Policy, and giving credence to the idea that development as a way of securitising border areas is a policy that New Delhi is seriously mulling over.