It is imperative that the Northeastern region be a major catalyst for India’s foreign policy in the immediate Southeast Asian neighbourhood.
As the coronavirus disaster looms large across the Indian states, there is no doubt that the UN Sustainable Development Goal (SDG 3) — Good Health and Well-being — acts as the topmost priority that supersedes all the other developmental objectives in the country. The role of SDG 3 becomes even more relevant due to the interlinkages between all the goals, which suggests that the entire sustainable development framework might be redundant if any one of these goals fall apart. In view of the COVID-19 disaster in India, what is extremely worrisome is that none of the Northeastern states fare well in terms of their healthcare infrastructure. This is depicted by the fact that according to the NITI Aayog’s SDG India Index 2019-2020, not one of the eight Northeastern states find a position in the top 10 states in India as per the SDG 3 rankings. In fact, Nagaland secures the lowest rank amongst all the Indian states and union territories, with an abysmally low score of 29 out of 100. The following table depicts the SDG 3 status of the Northeastern states along with the COVID-19 cases, as of 30 April 2020.
| Northeastern states | SDG 3 scores (out of 100) in descending order | Number of active positive cases | Number of cured cases | Number of deaths |
| Manipur | 62 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| Tripura | 61 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| Sikkim | 59 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Meghalaya | 53 | 11 | 0 | 1 |
| Mizoram | 52 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Arunachal Pradesh | 50 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Assam | 44 | 8 | 29 | 1 |
| Nagaland | 29 | 1 (migrated to Assam) | 0 | 0 |
Source: Statistics compiled from the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, GoI and The Hindu
The vulnerability of the Northeastern states was well established by the fact that the Northeastern Region (NER) not only shares a large number of international borders which are often disputed to be porous, but also, the pandemic-induced homeward return of the Northeastern migrants who move to other Indian states in large numbers due to high unemployment in the region. Additionally the NER is also a Himalayan retreat which sees a steady footfall of tourists from the rest of India. In fact, the improved infrastructure and air connectivity in the NER was attributed to the estimated growth in tourism by 10-12 percent in the previous year. However, the lack of major international airports and foreign connectivity in the region can be assumed to be a blessing in disguise that protected these states from the initial onslaught of the pandemic in the country.In the context of this discussion, Sikkim needs a special mention as the only Indian state which has not reported any COVID-19 positive case until now. Despite Sikkim’s close proximity to West Bengal and Assam which are the worst affected states in the eastern region — the proactive measures taken by the state is highly commendable. Additionally, being a state that is almost entirely dependent on the tourism sector, the nationwide lockdown has been detrimental to its economy. This year, as Sikkim cancels the Kailash Mansarovar Yatra and the border trade between India and China through the Nathu La Pass, the state’s tourism minister claimed that the losses in Sikkim’s tourism revenue already amounts to more than Rs 100 million.
According to Sikkim’s Chief Minister, the state has been able to effectively manage this pandemic due to:
a. The step-by-step approach to tackle COVID-19 right after the first case in India was detected in Kerala in January — the state banned the entry of international tourists from 5 March and domestic tourists from 17 March, much before the national lockdown which started on 25 March. In fact, the state government has already decided to keep its borders closed for all tourists until October as a precautionary measure against COVID-19.
b. As of 21 April, Sikkim had already screened over 600 people and now intends to rely on rapid testing for COVID-19.
c. The chief minister added that the extreme ‘discipline’ shown by the Sikkimese people in obeying the lockdown have aided the administration to tackle the crisis, and
d. Efficiency of the local pharmaceutical firms have helped meet the medical requirements in the state.
At a time when the coronavirus infections in India follows a growth rate of doubling in approximately 14 days, the Northeastern states take the lead in bringing down the growth rate to almost zero. Despite featuring on the lower rungs of the SDG 3 Index, as the table above depicts, five out of the eight northeastern states are free of COVID-19 as of 30 April. In the view of these positive developments, on 29 April, the Union Minister of State for Development of Northeastern Region added: “very soon the entire northeastern region could become free of COVID-19.”
Controlling the pandemic in this region and the administrative successes associated with it is important in light of India’s long-term economic partnerships as well. As the COVID-19 disaster could possibly redirect investments out of China due to diplomatic tensions for some time now — time is ripe for India to step up its economic policy by capitalising its sub-regional efforts and attracting more businesses for the long-term economic health of the country.
India’s Act East Policy is seen as a critical alternative to its non-participation in China’s Belt and Road Initiative — and the NER is a crucial driver of this policy. Northeastern states are economically important mainly on two fronts — firstly, the strategic location of the region that connects the product markets between the larger Indian geography along with the robust Southeast Asian markets and secondly, the existence of potent input market catalysts such as social (diversity, cultural richness), physical (potential energy supply hubs), human (inexpensive, skilled labour) and natural (minerals, forests) capitals in the region.
At a time where predictions are heavily tilted on the fact that the world is moving towards a global recession, India is poised to gain more importance in tackling the supply chain disruptions evolving from this pandemic situation and also containing China as an economic hegemon in the region. It is therefore imperative that the NER be major catalyst for India’s foreign policy in the immediate Southeast Asian neighbourhood. Hence, tackling the coronavirus disaster in this particular region will have larger economic ramifications in Asia, in terms of international connectivity, trade, and investments in the near future.
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Soumya Bhowmick is an Associate Fellow at the Centre for New Economic Diplomacy at the Observer Research Foundation. His research focuses on sustainable development and ...
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