RE-VISITING ACT EAST POLICY AND NORTHEAST INDIA: A VIEW FROM THE PERIPHERY

Northeast India's geo-strategic location and natural resources make it an important factor in India's Act East (AEP). The region extensive international border connects with neighbouring countries in South and Southeast Asia, and this has potential for a thriving border trade. Moreover, ethnically and culturally, the region enjoys close affinity with Southeast Asian countries. These cross-cultural affinities as well as the geo-strategic location of the region provide a rich incentive for India to strengthen close ties with Southeast Asian nations. However, the region has been deliberated upon in various ways, both through academic and non-academic prisms. Some perceive it as a volatile region with internecine ethnic conflicts and insurgency movements that shape the region’s socio-political landscape, while others perceive it as a region endowed with high potential for economic development. Of late, the region has been a recipient of generous financial grants disbursed by the central government, but nevertheless, it remains one of the most backward regions in the country, marked by acute unemployment and poverty despite being potentially rich in natural resources.