Assam’s stakes in Indo-Bhutan strategic engagement

Prime Minister Narendra Modi's two-day visit to Bhutan has bolstered hope for wider economic participation of Assam in deepening India-Bhutan bilateral engagement. Prime Minister Modi's announcement to establish an Immigration Check Post (ICP) at Hatisar in Assam to facilitate easy movement of investors and visitors to Gelephu in Bhutan will strengthen cross-border connectivity between the two friendly neighbours through the state. India already operationalised the ICP at Darrange in November last year and the Inland Waterways Terminal and Multimodal Logistics Park in Jogigopha in March this year. Apart from boosting cross-border trade and commerce, the ICP also facilitates foreign tourists visiting Bhutan through Assam, which has helped the state unlock new tourism potential. The ICP at Hatisar, when commissioned, will also open a strategic tourism transit corridor through Assam by facilitating movement of global tourists to Bhutan's Gelephu Mindfulness City currently under construction. More global tourists visiting Bhutan through Assam will bring an opportunity for the state tourism stakeholders to attract them to iconic destinations like Manas National Park, Nameri, Kamakhya Temple, Kaziranga National Park, Majuli River Island, etc. Increasing the footprint of foreign tourists serves a twin purpose: promotion of tourism destinations by word of mouth as tourists become informal cultural ambassadors and their recommendations often work better than advertisements, and increasing tourism revenue from dollar-paying tourists. Besides, increasing cross-border trade and people-to-people movement turn administrative focus on infrastructure development along the borderland areas, which otherwise often fail to make it to the list of priorities. Improvement in connectivity and transportation also leads to the creation of better health and educational facilities in these areas, and a flurry of activities turns the bordering areas, often neglected as peripheral areas, into tourism and commercial hubs. Development activities in such remote areas, however, do not automatically follow and requires aligning various schemes and programmes with the vision and infrastructure development for boosting trade, commerce and people-to-people movement through deepening bilateral engagements. Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Bhutanese King Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck jointly welcomed the signing of the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on the establishment of cross-border rail links (Gelephu-Kokrajhar and Samtse-Banarhat) in September 2025, and the subsequent establishment of the Project Steering Committee for the implementation of the project signals the highest priority accorded by both countries in strengthening cross-border infrastructure and connectivity through Assam. How the state can leverage this opportunity depends on the capacity of policymakers to imagine the scale of expansion of economic activities post the development of cross-border connectivity and the ability to develop data-driven projections about the transformative potential of the new growth trajectory. A prudent strategy demands that instead of waiting for the infrastructure to be fully developed along the India-Bhutan border, the state optimally tap the resources available under the Vibrant Villages Programme (VVP)-II. This centrally sponsored programme envisages ensuring assimilation of the border population with the nation and inculcating them as eyes and ears of the Border Guarding Forces, creating better living conditions and adequate livelihood opportunities. The focus of the programme is to saturate all villages along the international border with enabling and essential infrastructure in four thematic areas: all-weather road connectivity, telecom connectivity, television connectivity and on-grid electrification. The scheme guidelines require the state government to ensure availability of land and bear the costs involved in acquisition of land, forest clearance, operating and maintenance costs and make available necessary manpower for the projects. Lessons must be learnt from the poor implementation of the previous Border Area Development Programmes which also envisaged saturation of critical infrastructure in all border villages within 0-10 km from the international border. Development deficits in human habitation along international borders push large-scale migration of people from border villages to urban areas, which creates a vacuum for illegal migrants to occupy those areas and patronise inimical activities. Efficient implementation of the VVP and development of cross-border infrastructure and creation of new livelihood opportunities in economic activities associated with trade, commerce, tourism, healthcare, etc. Viewed from such a development perspective, strengthening of India-Bhutan relations has many benefits for Assam which cannot be overlooked and ignored. Initiatives taken by the state government and Bodoland Territorial Council (BTC) authorities to leverage the bilateral engagement and attract Bhutanese investors, traders and tourists to explore the economic, trade and tourism potential of the state showcase outreach efforts by the state government and the BTC. Following up such initiatives with a development push in villages along the India-Bhutan border is pivotal to the state deriving maximum benefit for its people from the deepening bilateral relations. Ensuring peace and security in border areas is critical to building the trust of Bhutanese investors, traders and tourists for long-term engagement in economic activities with the state. For Assam, the bigger challenge is to develop economic nodes and not remain a mere transit corridor in Bhutan's cross-border growth.