India’s Northeast region holds immense potential to enhance the country’s connectivity with the wider Indo-Pacific. However, the region faces significant challenges, such as inadequate infrastructure and low levels of cross-border trade. The U.S. Strategic Framework for the Indo- Pacific: North Eastern Dialogue aims to build awareness about the US Strategic Framework for the Indo-Pacific in India’s Northeast and the role it can play in developing trade, connectivity, and economic prosperity in the region, through potential India-US cooperation.
The project will engage 200 stakeholders from various sectors across the Northeast. Through policy dialogues at both regional and national levels, the project aims to create a comprehensive understanding of the region’s challenges and opportunities in connectivity, trade, and economic prosperity. A major focus of the Dialogue will be assessing the region's physical and digital connectivity. Particular attention will be given to riverine and maritime infrastructure, vital for connecting the Northeast to the Indo-Pacific via the Bay of Bengal. The project will explore ways in which US-India cooperation can enhance trade logistics and fill infrastructural gaps.
Given the region’s long-standing economic concerns, the project will also explore possible collaborative endeavours that can enhance the growth of the region. Stakeholder engagement will be crucial to identifying the prevailing challenges in each of the selected states and collaborative measures that can be undertaken to mitigate them, such as by enhancing people-to-people connectivity through India-US cooperation. The project will explore ways to harness the potential of India’s Northeast, promoting a more connected and economically prosperous region while contributing to a free and open Indo-Pacific.
● Panel Discussions (3)
● Parallel Breakout Sessions (6)
● Presentation of Scholars’ Audit Reports (1)
The Mizoram Chapter includes 3 panel discussions. Each of these will feature 4-5 expert panellists from varying domains, who will share their perspectives on the topic through a moderated discussion based on the key question highlighted in the schedule given below.
The first and second panel discussion will each be of 45 minutes, each speaker will have 5-6 minutes of speaking time, and the rest of the session (tentatively 15 minutes) will be devoted to an interactive Question and Answer session between the panellists and other participants.
The third panel discussion will be of 1 hour, and each speaker will have 7-8 minutes of speaking time, and the rest of the session (20-25 minutes) will be devoted to an interactive Question and Answer session between the panellists and other participants.
After each of the first and second panel discussions (on trade connectivity and Mizoram’s economic prosperity), there will be 3 parallel Breakout sessions (a total of 6), to facilitate more focused discussions based on the three given questions in each panel.
Each breakout session will be 45 minutes. Breakout sessions I, II, IV and V, will be conducted in person and Breakout Sessions III and VI will be conducted in hybrid mode. The Moderator will request the designated Initiator(s) in each breakout to begin the discussion. Additionally, there will be scholars auditing the breakout sessions. Please see lists below for Breakout Group allotment. After the break-out sessions, the delegates will be requested to reconvene in the main hall and their respective moderators will share the highlights of their sessions within 8-10 minutes. There will be no breakout sessions after the third panel discussion.
A key objective of the project is to provide a platform for the youth to voice their opinions about the future of the Northeast and the possibilities and potential of India-US cooperation in this growth story. Accordingly, research scholars and senior postgraduate students will audit the 3 panel discussions and the 6 break-out sessions. Auditing means observing the proceedings of each discussion and session, based on which they will formulate 15 recommendations; 5 on trade connectivity; 5 on Mizoram’s economic prosperity; and 5 on geopolitics of India’s Northeast. They will present these recommendations during the Scholars' Audit Report session at the end of the day and then submit these to the ORF team for their records.
The project will be conducted through six policy dialogues in hybrid mode in five Northeastern states of Meghalaya, Assam, Sikkim, Tripura, Mizoram, a digital dialogue in Manipur, and two national level dialogues in Kolkata and New Delhi. It aims to promote awareness and foster discussions about the US Indo-Pacific Framework and its potential role in developing regional trade connectivity and economic prosperity. The Meghalaya, Assam, Sikkim and Manipur Chapters of this series have already been conducted on 26 November 2024, 13 December 2024, 7 May 2025 and 10-11 July 2025 respectively. The fifth dialogue is scheduled as a day-long event in Aizwal, Mizoram, on 25 September 2025.
Each Dialogue will convene 37-40 delegates among which 27-30, will be joining in person and 9-10 will be joining digitally. Apart from participating in the dialogues, delegates will also be requested to fill out two survey questionnaires. The pre-dialogue survey is designed to gauge their existing awareness of the U.S. Strategic Framework for the Indo-Pacific and their perceptions about potential India-US collaboration in trade connectivity and economic prosperity in India’s Northeast. The post-dialogue survey will measure if there are any changes in their opinions after participating in the dialogues.
09:00 - 09:30 (IN)
09:30 - 10:00 (IN)
Welcome Address by Nilanjan Ghosh, Vice President – ORF Kolkata and Development Studies, and Project Director, USSFIP North Eastern Dialogue
Special Address by Garima Gupta, Commissioner & Secretary, Department of Commerce and Industries, Government of Mizoram, Mizoram
Special Address by Kathy Giles-Diaz, Consul General, US Consulate General Kolkata
Project Introduction by Anasua Basu Ray Chaudhury, Senior Fellow, Neighborhood Studies Initiative, ORF and Project In-Charge, USSFIP North Eastern Dialogue
10:00 - 10:45 (IN)
The Northeast is geographically positioned to be a strategic gateway to extend India’s outreach into the wider Indo-Pacific. However, it continues to suffer from gaps in connectivity infrastructure and low levels of transnational trade due to its difficult terrain and recurring political violence and ethnic conflicts, preventing its optimal utilisation. Mizoram sharing borders with Myanmar has a pivotal role to play in developing inter-country connectivity and boosting bilateral trade.
However, recent political turmoil in the neighbouring country has thwarted such developments. In such circumstances, it is vital to analyse the prospects of connectivity projects, and review the cavities in existing transportation links and chart ways in which these can be improved. The feasibility of developmental cooperation with the US in this regard is also an area of consideration.
Endowed with this objective, this session will explore the following key question:
Expert Panellists
Moderator
10:45 - 11:30 (IN)
Breakout Session I: Trade Trails of Northeast India: Linking Local to Global
Moderator: Vanlalchhawna, Professor, Department of Economics, Mizoram University
Initiator: Rupam Bhaduri, Post Doctoral Research Scholar, Centre for Disaster Management and Research, IIT Guwahati, Assam
Breakout Session II: The Infrastructure Frontier: Northeast India’s Connectivity Needs
Moderator: Anasua Basu Ray Chaudhury
Initiator: Dennis Fanai, Founder and CEO, Xplora Tours and Travels, Mizoram
Virtual Breakout Session III: Digital Horizons: Soft Connectivity in Northeast India
Moderator: Sauradeep Bag, Associate Fellow, Centre for Security, Strategy, and Technology, ORF (virtual)
Initiator: Deepa Sharma, Assistant Professor, Department of Commerce, Sikkim Manipal University, Sikkim (virtual) (SB)
11:30 - 12:00 (IN)
11:30-11:40 am | Breakout Session I
11:40-11:50 am | Breakout Session II
11:50-12:00 am | Breakout Session III (Virtual)
12:00 - 13:00 (IN)
13:00 - 13:45 (IN)
The Northeast’s economic growth faces both significant opportunities and substantial challenges. Rich natural resources, potential for tourism, and improved connectivity offer considerable potential for economic revival. However, political disturbances, infrastructural deficits, and a lack of industrialisation present major obstacles. Limited infrastructure restricts industrial development, hindering economic diversification. The inadequate infrastructure significantly restrains the growth and competitiveness of the industrial sector in Mizoram. In terms of sustainable economic growth, there must be a focus on the youth who can play a more vital role in driving the state's economic growth and creating a prosperous future. For the purpose of creating a stable environment that can support economic growth in the region, it is crucial to address these issues.
Endowed with this objective,this session will explore the following key questions:
Expert Panellists
Moderator:
Anasua Basu Ray Chaudhury
13:45 - 14:30 (IN)
Breakout Session I: The Small-scale Industries in India’s Northeast: From Local to Global
Moderator: Sreeparna Banerjee, Associate Fellow, Neighborhood Studies Initiative, ORF
Initiator: Gurram Ramakrishna, Assistant Professor, Department of Commerce, Mizoram University, Mizoram
Breakout Session II:Reset the Economy: Unleashing Opportunities for Mizoram’s Youth
Moderator: Anamika Barua
Initiator: Lalzuitluangi, Assistant Professor, Department of Commerce, Pachhunga University, Mizoram
Virtual Breakout Session III: People-to-People Connectivity in India’s Northeast
Moderator: Sekhar Kottu, Professor, Department of Social Work, Mizoram University, Mizoram
Initiators: Letkhogin Mate, Research Scholar, Department of Social Work, Mizoram University
14:30 - 15:00 (IN)
2:30-2:40 pm | Breakout Session I
2:40-2:50 pm | Breakout Session II
2:50-3:00 pm | Breakout Session III (Virtual)
15:00 - 15:15 (IN)
15:15 - 16:15 (IN)
Located at the juncture of South and Southeast Asia, India’s Northeast is a geographic pivot from which its multiple bordering countries can be accessed. In the era of the Indo-Pacific, where interconnectedness is essential among countries for mutual advantages and to address transnational challenges that affect people regardless of political boundaries, the time is ripe to unlock the Northeast’s true potential. Accordingly, the region has risen to the forefront of foreign policy interests of countries invested in the Indian Ocean region, which, together with India, seeks to create a free and open Indo-Pacific. India’s Northeast thus becomes a zone of their converging policy interests, and a natural platform for their collaborative initiatives towards developing a more free, open, connected, secure and resilient Indo-Pacific.
Endowed with this objective, this session will explore the following key question:
Expert Panellists
Moderator:
16:15 - 16:30 (IN)
16:30 - 17:00 (IN)
Harsh V. Pant, Vice President – Studies and Foreign Policy, Observer Research Foundation, New Delhi.
In-Conversation with
Aditya Gowdara Shivamurthy, Associate Fellow with the Strategic Studies Programme’s Neighbourhood Studies Initiative, ORF
17:00 - 17:20 (IN)
17:20 - 17:45 (IN)
17:45 - 18:00 (IN)
18:00 - 19:00 (IN)
