321: Northeast India-Myanmar: Search for Cooperation and New Approaches
Laldinkima Sailo, Research Associate, ISAS
27 February 2014
The eager expectations and hopes of the people of Myanmar belie the fragile peace that exists in
the country. There is immense desire to take the relationships with neighbouring countries a step
further; and India is a country with which there is perceivably tremendous unrealised potential.
Developing the infrastructure to enable greater people-to-people connectivity and trade between
the Northeast Region (NER) of India and western Myanmar is of particular interest within
Myanmar. The Indian Government's own desire to open the NER as a way of creating economic
dynamism that would take the region forward into a new development paradigm coincides with
the political reforms in Myanmar, giving both countries a larger canvas for their relationship.
Yet, this is a complex region with shared security and development challenges; cooperation of
both sides can bring windfall benefits to the lesser developed regions in the two countries.