Shillong Dialogue 2018

India’s Eastern and North Eastern states along with four immediate eastern neighbours, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Nepal, and Myanmar, comprise a geographically compact region in Eastern South Asia, connecting South and South East Asia. Since time immemorial, people, ideas and skills have traveled within the region, given the historical, cultural and commercial ties and also given the natural complementarities that the plains and the hills have. In the last few decades, however, political borders that demarcate the various nation states of the region impeded this natural and historical flow. So much so that this region has come to be acknowledged widely to be the least integrated in terms of economic coordination and modern physical connectivity. In more recent times however, emerging regional transport and economic corridors under evolving bilateral agreements, as well as multilateral frameworks such as BBIN and BIMSTEC promise to provide greater impetus for increasing economic linkages within the region. Also, higher political will for better bilateral and at times, multilateral trade and connectivity ties has created an enabling environment for furthering this agenda. Factors such as climate change concerns and present geopolitics in the region and beyond also emphasis the need for higher integration among the nation states. Given this backdrop, completing and implementing the planned connectivity infrastructure facilitating cross border flow of goods people and money, sustainable development of border regions, creation of transboundary agriculture value chains, development of special regional trading and tourism loops and hubs at or close to border regions can go a long way in ensuring livelihood of communities on both sides and usher in shared regional prosperity and lead to peace dividends.