North East India, Bangladesh and the Bay of Bengal in the Indo-Pacific: The Way Forward

Concept Note:

            The North East region of India is a region where Japan’s Free and Open Indo Pacific and India’s “Act East” and “Neighbourhood First” policies meet.

Asian Confluence in collaboration with Embassy of Japan, India and Ministry of External Affairs, India (MEA), has been organizing the North East India - Japan Intellectual Conclave since 2021. The objective of the initiative has been to put the spotlight on collaboration projects between India and Japan in North east India: highlighting achievements, scoping opportunities, and addressing challenges.  Garnering inputs from scholars and policymaker in India, Japan as well as the immediate neighbourhood the conclaves held so far has been able to collate a rich set of recommendations. The aim of process has been to continually create a community of champions on the ground spanning Industry, government and academia as well as nurture new ideas for the future. All the past three conclaves have had senior level participation from India and  Japan.

In the Third Conclave held in Agartala in April 2023, connectivity between North east India and Bangladesh as a game changer was discussed. The conclave had ministerial participation from India and Bangladesh and a report on the connecting the  upcoming Matarbari Port with North East India was released furthering a Narrative on India , Bangladesh and Japan Collaboration to forge a Bay of Bengal Community towards a stable and prosperous Indo-Pacific, with specific focus on North east India:

While the North-eastern states are as such landlocked, the region along with neighbours Bangladesh, Myanmar Bhutan and Nepal put together is a natural and unique “mountain to sea” contiguous landscape. The third dialogue highlighted how connectivity cooperation with Bangladesh  holds enormous possibilities for trade, investment, cultural contacts and efforts towards holistic conservation of the fragile biodiversity of the region. Bhutan and Nepal also stand to gain. A connected Bay of Bengal is a key component of a Free and Open Indo-Pacific. Such a connectivity would be a concrete convergence of the Indo-Pacific Oceans Initiative (IPOI) and Japan’s Free and Open Indo Pacific (FOIP) and BIG-B Initiative. It could also be a concrete milestone progress in BIMSTEC regional connectivity and be in total harmony with India's “Act East” and “Neighbourhood First” policies. BIMSTEC and the SASEC region have overlap and seeking complementary can yield results for the greater good of the region. India Japan Bangladesh collaboration in the Bay of Bengal region would a  key component moving forward.

 As an output of the conclaves held so far, two pillars for further action have been identified:

 1)    Ways and means to attract businesses to participate in the development of industrial value chains along the upcoming connectivity corridors between India and Bangladesh

Many connectivity enhancement projects in the BBIN region are underway. JICA is currently conducting a cross border logistics improvement study on the BBIN region. Connectivity between Northeast India and Bangladesh holds a special significance in this context.  The Asian Confluence released a study report titled “Assessing Connectivity between Northeast India and Bangladesh: Towards a Prosperous Bay of Bengal Region” in April 2023 during the last held conclave. The study clearly  discusses the merits of the upcoming corridor between Matarbari DSP and Tripura and beyond and also presents the current status of existing and envisaged connectivity networks. It also gave concrete recommendations on bridging existing gaps.   The Sabroom ICP in Tripura is being operationalized and the Akhaura-Agartala railway link has been recently inaugurated. The Tamabil ICP has also been launched.   A Guwahati Dhaka flight is expected to commence soon.   Launch on negotiations between Japan and Bangladesh on an FTA is expected soon. Planning for the creation of  industrial value chains on such connectivity corridors is the need of the hour.  Increasing the level of familiarity amongst business community with the business prospects of the region and finding ways to increase business confidence in the region is a necessary step moving forward.

2)    Recognizing and promoting people to people contact between India and Japan as a necessary condition to take forward the above two agenda:

Increasing people to people contact between various segments of population between North East Indian States, Bangladesh and Japan by curating special programs and exchanges between small business owners, youth, cultural groups, special history interest groups, tourism operators, startup companies can go a long way towards increasing familiarity of the region amongst the Japanese. Recently a group of members of parliamentarians from North eastern states visited Japan at the invitation of Sasakawa Peace Foundation and many ideas were discussed. This needs advocacy and follow-up in the region. Post COVID pandemic, there is already a marked increase of Indian tourists visiting Japan. North east Indian states can further contribute to this. The need of the hour is to create an infrastructure of human networks to support SMEs in Japan to interact with the region.  The experience of graduates of the programs such as TITP and JENSYS of Japan government should be complemented with on ground institutions to foster such a network. Overall a new strategy is needed to address the task of people to people contact to take a quantum leap.

The fourth conclave planned on  Feb,12  2024 will focus on these three pillars

1)    The Bigger Picture and the Ground: Connecting the dots

2)    Towards Creating Industrial Value Chains: Voices from the industry

3)    Empowering Institutional Infrastructure for People Connectivity 

The dialogue titled “Kizuna” ( in Japanese means heart to heart discussions) will be based on the theme “North East India, Japan and Bangladesh and in the Indo-Pacific: Towards a new economic zone”

Registration: 08:00 to 09:00  

Curtain Raiser: 09:00  – 09:50

Reviewing The State of Connectivity (Progress since Agartala Conclave) 

Introduction:

·       Shri. Sabyasachi Dutta, Executive Director, Asian Confluence

Panel Presentations by:

·       Shri Aditya Mishra, Chairman, Land Port Authority of India (LPAI) (virtual)

·       Dr. Prabir De, Professor, RIS, New Delhi

·       Mr. Tatsuya Machida, Deputy Chief of Mission, Embassy of Japan in Bangladesh.

·       Mr. Mitsunori Saito, Chief Representative, JICA India 

Inaugural Session: 10:00 -11:30

The Bigger Picture and the Ground: Connecting the dots   

Welcome:

·       Shri. Sabyasachi Dutta, Executive Director, Asian Confluence

Chair:

·       Amb. Riva Ganguly Das, Former Secretary, East, MEA, Former Ambassador to Bangladesh, Member Governing Council, Asian Confluence.

Opening Addresses: 

·       H.E. Amb. Hiroshi Suzuki, Ambassador of Japan to India

Special Addresses:

·       Shri. K Moses Chalai, Secretary, North Eastern Council

·       Shri. Donald P Wahlang, Chief Secretary, Meghalaya

·       H.E. Amb. Mustafizur Rahman, High Commissioner of Bangladesh to India. 

Keynote Address:

·     Shri. P. Kumaran, Special Secretary, Economic Relations & Development Partnership Administration, MEA 

11:30 -12:00: Tea 

Session 1: 12:00 – 14:00 pm (close door)

Interactive Discussion:  Towards Creating Industrial Value Chains: Voices from the industry

Chair:

·     Mr. Ajay Sethi, MD, ASA Associates and Member Governing Council, Asian Confluence.

Special Tone Setting:

·      Prof. Shahidul Haque, Former Foreign Secretary, Bangladesh  Government, Bangabandhu Chair, Delhi University

·     Mr. Makoto Hayashi, Deputy Assistant Minister, Asian and Oceanian Affairs Bureau, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan. 

Moderated Discussion over interventions from invited participants                                       

Lunch: 14:00 – 15:00   

Session 2: 15:00-16:30

Interactive Discussion:  Empowering Institutional Infrastructure for People Connectivity 

Chair:

      Amb. Riva Ganguly Das, Former Secretary, East, MEA, Former Ambassador to Bangladesh, Member Governing Council, Asian Confluence.

Tone Setting:

      Prof. Ashok Kumar Chawla, Adv[Japan], East Asia Division, Ministry of External Affairs, Government of India.

     Mr. Jiro Kodera, Counsellor, Embassy of Japan in India

     Shri. Lalnghinglova Hmar, Minister of State LESDE, Sports & Youth Services and Excise & Narcotics Departments, Government of Mizoram 

Moderated Discussion over interventions from invited participants 

Session 3: 16:45 -18:00 : The Way Forward   

Chair:

·     Prof. Mahendra Lama, Centre for South Asian Studies, School of International Studies, JNU, Distinguished Fellow, Asian Confluence.

            Panel:

·       Mr. Itsu Adachi, Executive Director, SPF

·       Dr. Rajdeep Roy, Member of Parliament, Lok Sabha

·       Shri. Tapir Gao, Member of Parliament, Lok Sabha

·       Smti. S. Phangnon Konyak, Member of Parliament, Rajya Sabha

·       Shri Vincent Pala, Member of Parliament, Meghalaya

·       Shri. Mmhonlumo Kikon, National Spokesperson, Bhartiya Janta Party 

18:00 -18:15:

·    Valedictory Address: Shri Paul Lyngdoh, Minister of Tourism, Government of Meghalaya

·    Vote of Thanks:  By Asian Confluence 

19:30:   

Cultural Performance:

·  Ms. Hiroko Fukuda (Hiroko Sarah), a Japanese Artist, Multilingual Singer, and Kathak Dancer, Mumbai

·     Mr. Ian William Hunt (Ibex), Multilingual Rapper, Mumbai

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