India’s Economic Eastgate

Inaugurating the Rising Northeast Summit, held in New Delhi during May 23–24, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Friday (May 23, 2025) that the region offers a wide range of economic and industrial opportunities. “The Northeast is to be a gateway for trade with Southeast Asia. India’s Northeast is not a ‘frontier region’ anymore; it is the ‘frontrunner of growth,’” he added, reports The Hindu. The much-hyped ‘Look East’ policy, initiated in 1991, also projected the Northeast of India as a ‘gateway to East and Southeast Asia’.

The Indian Prime Minister said that the Northeast would emerge as a gateway to trade with the ASEAN bloc over the coming decade. “The Northeast will be a strong bridge of trade with Southeast Asia. We are working on the necessary infrastructure to realise that goal,” he said, announcing that India is working on projects to directly connect Myanmar, Thailand, Vietnam, and Laos to India. “These projects will give the Northeast a new commercial identity among the Indo-Pacific countries,” he added.

According to media reports, Gautam Adani committed to invest an additional Rs 50,000 crore over the next ten years, on top of the Rs 50,000 crore that his group had committed to invest in Assam in February. Reliance Industries Ltd will invest Rs 75,000 crore in the Northeastern states by setting up 350 biogas plants, expanding its telecom services, retail footprint, and clean energy projects, its Chairman Mukesh Ambani promised. Vedanta Group Chairman Anil Agarwal announced more than Rs 30,000 crore in investments in the Northeast. Arunachal Pradesh has received investment proposals totalling Rs 6,357 crore through the signing of 16 Memoranda of Understanding (MoUs) at the Rising Northeast Investors Summit.

This new initiative to highlight the Northeast by the Indian government is significant against the backdrop of the current Indo-Bangladesh conflict resulting from the May 17 order by India's Directorate General of Foreign Trade to close land ports with Bangladesh. Significantly, as the ASEAN Chair, Malaysia convened the Special ASEAN Economic Ministers–Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (AEM-METI) Consultation on May 20, 2025, where ASEAN member states and their key dialogue partners—China, Japan, Australia, and New Zealand—reaffirmed their commitment to open, rules-based trade and closer economic integration. One of the key outcomes of the negotiations was to upgrade the ASEAN-China Free Trade Area (ACFTA) to its 3.0 version. The upgraded agreement will incorporate new elements like digital economy provisions, green economy priorities, and enhanced supply chain connectivity. Ministers aim to sign the ACFTA 3.0 Upgrade Protocol later this year at the ASEAN-China Summit, reports Singapore Business Review.

Over the years, three possible gateways of Northeast India to Southeast Asia via Myanmar have been discussed. India and Myanmar share a 1,643-kilometre land border that runs from China in the north to Bangladesh in the south, covering the Indian states of Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland, Manipur, and Mizoram. Arunachal Pradesh also shares a land border with Bhutan and China.

Ledo Road / Stilwell Road: The earliest modern link road connecting China’s Kunming province with Assam was built (1942–44) during World War II. The Ledo Road / Stilwell Road was constructed to connect Ledo (Assam) to the Burmese towns of Myitkyina and Bhamo on the Burma Road that ran from Rangoon to Kunming in China. It was built by the Allied forces to maintain supplies to China when Japan blockaded China’s coastline from 1937 to 1945 and an overland route was needed. The Chinese Army built the Burma Road connecting Kunming, China, to Rangoon. But when Rangoon was captured by the Japanese in March 1942, the US Army began the Ledo Road as a cut-off route from Ledo to the Burma Road. The Ledo Road opened in early 1945. The all-weather, 1,726-km-long road traverses 61 kilometres in India, 1,033 kilometres in Myanmar, and 632 kilometres in China.

Since the Modi government came to power in 2014, this gateway linking the Northeast to East and Southeast Asia has been ruled out due to strained relations with China. However, proponents of reopening this gateway argue that, as only 61 km of the historical road passes through India, it does not really matter whether India reopens the road or not. Chinese goods and people will be able to reach the Indian border in any case once the Burmese part of the road is opened.

India-Myanmar-Thailand Highway: In 2002, India, Myanmar, and Thailand agreed to build a 1,300-km highway to bind the three countries together and bring India closer to ASEAN. Till date, the first 160-km stretch — the India-Myanmar Friendship Highway (IMFH) — has not been completed. In 2018, the Indo-Myanmar Friendship Bridge joining Moreh (India) with Tamu in Myanmar, the first of 69 bridges, was completed. COVID-19, followed by civil war in Manipur and Myanmar, has put the project in jeopardy.

The Kaladan Multimodal Project (KMP): The project was conceived in 2008, with the Indian and Myanmar governments signing a framework agreement that year, aiming to connect the seaport of Kolkata with the Sittwe seaport in Rakhine State, Myanmar, by sea. It will then link Sittwe seaport to Paletwa in Myanmar’s Chin State via the Kaladan river boat route, and from Paletwa by road to Mizoram state in Northeast India. KMP is also in deep water due to unrest in Chin State and poor road connectivity.

Instead of connecting to the Bay of Bengal via Myanmar, India should seriously explore the time-tested routes to the Bay through Tripura. There are three easy options at present:

(a) Using Ashuganj river port on the Meghna river, located a few kilometres from the Tripura border. The first ship carrying heavy equipment for ONGC’s Palatana power project in Tripura reached Ashuganj port from Kolkata port in 2011. Again in 2014, about 5,000 tonnes of food grains dispatched by the Food Corporation of India (FCI) from Kakinada port in Andhra Pradesh reached Ashuganj river port in Bangladesh for entry into Tripura.

(b) Waterway connecting Gomati (Tripura) and Meghna: In December 2024, the Indian Ministry of Waterways and Shipping allocated Rs 19.5 crore for dredging the 18-km waterway connecting the Gomati (Tripura) and Meghna river (Bangladesh). The project aimed to connect Tripura with Kolkata using inland waterways.

(c) Build an inland harbour at Sabroom: The Feni River, which originates in South Tripura, flows through Sabroom town before it meets the Bay of Bengal. Sabroom, in South Tripura, is only 18 to 20 kilometres from the Bay of Bengal, but it is a virtually landlocked territory. An inland harbour could be built at Sabroom, connecting to the sea through a canal—if Bangladesh allowed it.

India and Bangladesh share 54 rivers and a common ecosystem. Instead of comparing the vulnerability of the 28-km Chittagong Corridor to the 22-km Siliguri Corridor, Indian policymakers should explore the possibility of a viable sea route for Northeastern states through Bangladesh. For the sustainable development of India’s Northeast region, proper implementation of India’s ‘neighbours first’ foreign policy, as promised by Modi earlier, should be assured in its true spirit.

The writer is a professor of Business Administration who primarily writes on political economy, global trade, and sustainable development. Views expressed are personal