• Source: Asian relations with Northeast India

      • The East Asian countries of Japan and Korea have significant contemporary influence over and cultural similarities with Northeast India; Northeast India engages to a significant extent with Korean and Japanese culture and has been receiving infrastructural investment from Japan. Northeast India also has substantial historical connections to Southeast Asia; India's Act East policy seeks to harness this connectivity in the modern day.


      East Asia




      = China

      =
      China claims the border state of Arunachal Pradesh as part of South Tibet, which has resulted in tensions between India and China. Since 2009, China has issued "stapled visas" to people from Arunachal Pradesh when they wish to travel to China, signaling that they are perceived as having the same right of movement as Chinese citizens throughout China.


      = Japan

      =

      Historically, Northeast India and Japan have been connected to some extent through Buddhism; other cultural similarities have existed for millennia, such as in food and through an appreciation for nature. During World War 2, the Japanese military collaborated with the Indian National Army in the region; eventually, the westward expansion of the Japanese Empire was put to a stop in Northeast India in the 1944 Battle of Imphal. Since then, Japan has contributed to the construction of infrastructure in the region. Northeast Indians consume some Japanese cultural products as well, such as anime.
      Northeast India is currently being prioritized by India and Japan as part of Japan's Free and Open Indo-Pacific strategy and as part of India's Act East policy, with both countries seeing the region as especially important for creating trading routes due to their collective rejection of China's Belt and Road Initiative. Northeast India, in conjunction with the neighboring BIMSTEC country of Bangladesh, is seen by Japan as an important region in containing China, while India seeks to use its northeastern region to increase engagement with Southeast Asia. The geographical similarities between Northeast India and Japan, as well as India's guarding of its northeast as a sensitive border region that it is unwilling to allow untrusted partner countries to invest in, are other major factors leading to India desiring Japan's involvement in the region.


      = Korea

      =

      Northeast India has often felt alienated from the rest of India (sometimes referred to as "mainland India"), leading it in recent decades to look towards phenotypically and culturally similar parts of Asia in the east for connection. Part of this alienation is due to local insurgents and others banning Hindi cinema and other potential tools of "Indianization" in the region. In this context, Korean culture has become popular in Northeast India, with Korean words becoming increasingly prevalent in the local languages. Korean food has also become increasingly popular at local restaurants. The popularity of Korean culture that emerged in Northeast India has since spread to the rest of India in recent years. One aspect of Korean culture's popularity in Northeast India is its ability to incorporate Christian principles in a non-Western manner, making it more relatable in some ways to Northeast Indian youth than Western culture.


      South Asia




      = Bangladesh

      =
      Northeast India is dependent on Bangladesh to some extent for routes to Southeast Asia. Assam, Meghalaya, and Tripura depend on having access to the sea via Bangladesh’s Chittagong port. Initiatives for connectivity, like the Kaladan Multi-Modal Transit Transport Project and the Akhaura–Agartala line, are also relevant.
      Immigration from Bangladesh has been a concern for indigenous populations in Northeast India, which oppose significant demographic change. This immigration has led to historical movements such as the Assam Movement of the 1980s.


      Southeast Asia


      India has sought to use Northeast India to connect to Southeast Asia for trading purposes. However, recent conflicts such as the 2023–2024 Manipur violence have reduced the stability of the region for this purpose.


      = Myanmar

      =

      Myanmar is the only Southeast Asian country that borders Northeast India. There are substantial cross-border ethnic ties, with the Indian government having allowed a limited amount of unregulated movement across the border from 2018 to 2024.


      See also


      Eastern South Asia
      Eastern Himalayas
      Pacific Asia
      Tea Horse Road


      References

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