India’s Northeast is shifting from a conflict periphery to an Indo-Pacific gateway, driven by peace, infrastructure, and investment, despite persistent structural and regional constraints
Image Source: Unsplash
The narrative of India’s Northeast has undergone a sea change since 2014. It is now described as a “new growth pole” and a leading engine of India’s growth. A new vision of infrastructural readiness and the harnessing of its geographical potential has gained traction, portraying the region as a strategic gateway and resource-rich borderland. The transformation of the Northeast from a conflict-isolated, underdeveloped frontier region of six decades ago into a stable, vibrant, and connected borderland has not been easy. The Indian state made a decisive policy, governance, and political push, taking a dual approach of restoring peace and energising three economic drivers: investment, infrastructure, and industry in this historically troubled periphery. Large-scale capital outlays, channelled through multiple central schemes, including PM-DEVINE, towards connectivity infrastructure in this ‘landlocked’ region, have signalled a strategic shift in the narrative and generated multiplier effects on economic growth.
The transformation of the Northeast from a conflict-isolated, underdeveloped frontier region of six decades ago into a stable, vibrant, and connected borderland has not been easy.
In recent years, Northeast states have gained prominence on India’s growth map. Assam, which historically lagged behind national averages, recorded a sharp growth surge of around 19 percent in 2023. Arunachal Pradesh recorded the lowest growth among the Northeastern states at 11 percent, but ranked higher than the lowest-scoring states, Punjab and West Bengal, which recorded growth rates of 9 percent each. This is a sharp recovery that moves the region away from its long-drawn peripheral position in the Indian economy. With such a ‘radical alternative’ narrative, the region is becoming central to the idea of Viksit Bharat. Peace and stability in the Northeast have improved visibly through numerous peace accords, reduced insurgency, enhanced connectivity infrastructure in inaccessible terrains, and more precise border management measures. Thus, growth, stability, and infrastructure are preparing the Northeast for future prosperity and a strategic role.
Assam’s strengths in mineral and plantation economies make it well-placed to attract investments in semiconductors and hydropower generation. It has hosted two mega Global Investment Summits on ‘Advantage Assam’ in 2018 and 2025, and made history by participating in the World Economic Forum in Davos in 2026. Other states have also become open to investment in pharmaceuticals, palm oil, spices, textiles, and rubber, supporting a broader shift in perception from a peripheral borderland to a strategic gateway in India’s Indo-Pacific vision. This, in turn, invigorates India’s long-standing trans-border economic strategy of engaging with the vibrant and vast Indo-Pacific region, which accounts for over 60 percent of global GDP and population.
Peace and stability in the Northeast have improved visibly through numerous peace accords, reduced insurgency, enhanced connectivity infrastructure in inaccessible terrains, and more precise border management measures.
One of the persistent economic challenges in the Northeast remains weak resource management and low revenue generation. Resource Management Index data over the past decade indicate consistently poor performance across these states. Within the region, Assam records the highest score (0.440), which remains significantly below the national high of 0.883 in Telangana. Manipur records the lowest score (0.036), far below even Bihar, the lowest-scoring state nationally at 0.434. Consequently, these Northeastern states face constraints in capacity-building and in generating their own revenues to support existing economic activity. The recent growth observed in the region is therefore argued to be largely driven by high public expenditure on developmental projects, including infrastructure.
Among other challenges, aspiring youth face gaps in employment generation, asymmetries in access to modern infrastructure and developmental opportunities, and the erosion of traditional livelihood practices. The narrative of transformation, therefore, is not always inclusive. However, the Northeast’s distinctiveness offers alternative economic possibilities that transcend conventional resource–geography–development debates. There is scope to engage with the region as a lived space, exploring its internal dynamism and capturing youth aspirations that are deeply embedded in land and identity. Economic strategies must, therefore, be cognisant of these possibilities. A two-pronged approach can help absorb the aspiring youth labour force: through need-based, sectoral investment, and through targeted skilling programmes, alongside scaled-up support for capital and innovation to foster an entrepreneurial landscape in the Northeast.
Centring India’s Northeast in efforts to advance trans-border engagement through connectivity, trade, and investment is contingent upon stable and conducive relations with its immediate neighbours, particularly Bangladesh and Myanmar.
Sectors at the interface of agriculture and industry, such as tea, bamboo, rubber, weaving, and fisheries, are among the most socially and ecologically suited models for the region’s economy. They combine traditional identity with significant potential for sustainable growth and scalability. Among various initiatives, India introduced the Uttar Poorva Transformative Industrialisation Scheme (UNNATI) in 2024 to promote innovative, tradition-based models with high potential for revenue generation in the region. Another recent institutional initiative, the North East Centre for Technology Application and Reach (NECTAR), established in 2025, seeks to position the Northeast as a ‘new agrarian hub’ by integrating technological interventions with traditional practices. Nuanced, people-centric interventions in the Northeast’s traditional economies can sustain the current momentum of transformation, while enabling more sustainable pathways for trans-border engagement with the wider Indo-Pacific.
Centring India’s Northeast in efforts to advance trans-border engagement through connectivity, trade, and investment is contingent upon stable and conducive relations with its immediate neighbours, particularly Bangladesh and Myanmar. Overly optimistic assumptions about the neighbourhood have proven challenging for the region in the past. Domestic upheavals in these countries can disrupt strategic trans-border engagement and generate losses and uncertainty in the region. An open trans-border economic–strategic framework must, therefore, pragmatically account for such risks. In this context, integrating the Northeast into the Indo-Pacific framework requires both strong, reliable ties with neighbours and the development of alternative regional strategies.
The significance of the Siliguri Corridor cannot be underestimated. This narrow strip serves as the land corridor and economic lifeline of the Northeast, connecting it to the rest of the country and providing access to the Bay of Bengal.
The significance of the Siliguri Corridor cannot be underestimated. This narrow strip serves as the land corridor and economic lifeline of the Northeast, connecting it to the rest of the country and providing access to the Bay of Bengal. In recent years, India has re-emphasised its strategic importance by announcing a new railway network connecting western Assam to Bhutan via West Bengal. This is expected to develop the region into an alternative ‘logistics hub’ and open new avenues within the trans-border regional framework. It offers an alternative to the Manipur–Myanmar and Tripura–Bangladesh cross-border routes, while the Assam–Bengal–Bhutan network is likely to reinforce a more stable spatial and strategic position for the Northeast within the Indo-Pacific. However, secure borders are a prerequisite for seamless access and uninterrupted trans-border engagement. For the continuity of this emerging narrative—aimed at long-term economic prosperity and territorial and human security—such an alternative will be necessary to position the Northeast as a ‘core region’ within the Viksit Bharat programme.
Rakhee Bhattacharjee is a Professor at the Special Centre for the Study of North East India at Jawaharlal Nehru University.
The views expressed above belong to the author(s). ORF research and analyses now available on Telegram! Click here to access our curated content — blogs, longforms and interviews.
Rakhee Bhattacharjee is Professor at the Special Centre for the Study of North East India, Jawaharlal Nehru University. She holds a PhD in Economics and ...
Read More +
PREV
