New opportunities for Northeast

Graduation of Bangladesh from the status of Least Developed Country (LDC) to a Developing Country over the next five years has triggered new hopes for India's landlocked northeast region in deepening bilateral relations between the two neighbouring countries. A set of connectivity projects through land ports on the India-Bangladesh border and river routes connecting the two countries is expected to witness fresh momentum over the next five years. United Nations General Assembly adopted a resolution last month to graduate Bangladesh, Nepal, and Laos from LDC to the group of developing countries and grant them five years, instead of three, considering the economic reveres due to the COVID-19 pandemic, for the transition. This means Bangladesh and the other two counties will be officially declared a developing nations in 2026 and the next five years. Bangladesh will see a flurry of economic activities in the country during this period and India expediting the connectivity projects will be crucial for its northeast region to tap the potential benefits. Both Bangladesh and Nepal are key stakeholders in the sub-regional architectures of BIMSTEC and BBIN, their economic transitions to developing nations are expected to embolden these multilateral engagements a strategic advantage of drawing the attention of global economic players. Another key stakeholder in these two sub-regional groupings is Bhutan which will graduate into a developing country in 2023. For Bangladesh, the UN resolution coinciding with the celebration of 50 years of independence has boosted its confidence. The celebration also coincides with 50 years of diplomatic ties between India and Bangladesh that was established after India's victory against Pakistan culminated in the creation of Bangladesh as an independent nation in 1971. Apart from deepening trade, commerce and strategic relations with India, Bangladesh has also signed several treaties with Bhutan and Nepal for enhancing bilateral trade and commerce. Northeast region being strategically located sharing India-Bangladesh, India-Bhutan and India-Nepal borders, growth of export and import among these three countries apart from export-import between India and Bangladesh will turn the region into one a hub of economic cooperation between BIMSTEC and BBIN countries. Export consignments of boulders from Bhutan to Bangladesh from Dhubri port has also already been demonstrated the importance of the Brahmaputra River route in such multilateral engagements. The challenge, however, lies for the northeast region is to ensure that the region does not remain a mere transit and tap the huge potential of scripting a new growth story leveraging the geopolitics. India building the country's first multimodal logistic park at Jogighopa in Goalpara district showcases the importance the country has given in increasing trade opportunities and competitiveness for the states in the northeast region so that it can leverage the cooperation between BIMSTEC and BBIN countries. Even after the NITI Aayog pointed out poor export preparedness of the region, efforts on the part of Northeastern states to improve is not yet visible. Apart from logistics, it is important to identify and prepare the list of commodities that the region produces in surplus as well as services which it can provide. This needs to be followed by narrowing down the list of commodities that Bangladesh, Bhutan and Nepal and other countries are currently importing or from other countries. If these countries can source these goods and services from the northeast region at a cheaper price it will be a win-win situation for India as well neighbouring countries, the region's economy will grow. A rapid economic growth in the region will unlock huge opportunities for jobs and livelihood, provided proper planning is done and executed. Projecting the connectivity projects through Bangladesh as means of improving connectivity from the region to the rest of India and cutting down costs in supplying essential commodities to the region limits the imagination of the people in the region about the economic opportunities. The region's capabilities to graduate from a consumer of industrial goods to industrial manufacturing and exporting hub, from a mere food production zone to a major food processing hub, from being a zone of migrating daily wage earners to a pool of skilled human resources and talent is poised to grow manifold with developments taking place in the neighbourhood. The state governments, political leaders, student and youth leaders, thinkers, policy planners in the region will be able to foresee the growth story when they stop looking at development activities through the narrow lens of politics and electoral victories. States in the region ending their boundary disputes and planning collaborative projects with support from the Central government to project it as a single economic zone is vital to attract investments and India's neighbours looking at it with renewed interests. Northeast is poised to witness a new trajectory of unprecedented economic activities during the transition of Bangladesh, Bhutan, and Nepal to developing nations. It is for the region to take a call if it is interested to leverage the opportunity.