Who Believes In The ‘Love Thy Neighbor’ Concept?
By Subir Ghosh
Not many, if you manage to reach the end of this essay. Talk of neighboring countries and you will end up talking of trade. Talk more of bilateral relations, and most economic activities will trickle down to border trade. Ahem! Border trade has special significance for the economies of Northeast states due to their characteristic geographical location. If the Northeast were to be taken as a geopolitical entity, the seven states of the region have a longer border with neighboring countries than with India. With the exception of the clichéd Chicken Neck connecting Assam with West Bengal, the rest of the border is shared with Bangladesh, China, Bhutan, and Myanmar – as much as 98 per cent. This, coupled with (equally clichéd) poor infrastructural facilities within the Northeast, has led to a situation where each of the states is looking more to neighboring countries than to mainland India for economic relations. Owing to its geographical location and proximity to as many as four neighboring countries, the Northeast has a natural advantage for border trade. There is tremendous scope of generating economic activities through their interaction with these neighboring countries. In fact, these countries had been the traditional markets for a variety of goods and services produced by the Northeast before its traditional links were disrupted by Partition. All that remained was the overburdened, constricted Chicken Neck. As of now, there is no formal agreement on the opening up of border trade with Bangladesh. However, border trade does take place either through authorized customs stations. At present, 89 land custom stations and several specified land and rivers routes have been approved by the customs authorities in India for movement of goods on the Indo-Bangladesh border. Of these, 35 are in the Northeast; but only 14 are operational. Partition had chopped off, overnight, all the road, rail and river routes connecting Northeast with the rest of the country. The trade agreement with Bangladesh has little to do with border trade. Whatever Indo-Bangla trade might be there as of now, it is India that benefits, the Northeast does not. But then, for border trade to flourish, it is imperative for Bangladesh to accept itself as a transit point between the Northeast and the rest of India. India does have a free trade agreement with Bhutan. There are three notified land customs stations on the Indo-Bhutan border — Darranga, Halisar and Ultapani. These are, however, not operational and are used for the purpose of keeping records. These can become active only if infrastructural facilities are beefed up at these three stations. There is no formal point of trade with China either. Arunachal Pradesh has been crying for three specific points for border trade – Zemithang in Tawang district, Gelling in Upper Siang district, and Kibithoo in Lohit district. These areas are not properly connected to the “mainland” by State or National Highways. Till that happens, border trade will not either. That is a fait accompli. “Official” border trade takes place only with Myanmar which shares a border of 1,640 km with Manipur, Nagaland, Mizoram, and Arunachal Pradesh. It has border trade pacts with Thailand, China and Bangladesh, apart from India. A border trade agreement was signed between the two countries on January 21, 1994 (effective from April 12, 1995) and provided for border trade initially through two points —Moreh in Manipur and Champhai in Mizoram. Though more points were to be identified and made active over a period of time, as of now only the Moreh-Tamu (in Myanmar) sector has been operative while the Champhai-Rih (in Myanmar) has been fading away into trade folklore. Why? Well, it needs two to do the proverbial tango. The Myanmar response has been lukewarm, and the Indian counter-response to convince the junta there has been as frigid. As a result, the potential border trade posts of Lungwa, Pongru, and Pokhungri in Nagaland and Nampong, Vijayanagar, and Khimiyang in Arunachal Pradesh remain just that – nondescript names. So much for the countries. What do the Northeast states have to offer? Assam is the only Northeast state with a reasonably good industrial base. Assam accounts for more than 50 per cent of tea produced in the country. Other major industries are plywood, crude oil and natural gas, coal, paper, petrochemicals, fertilizers and textiles. The state produces a variety of fruits including pineapple, banana, oranges and papaya. Sericulture is a traditional industry. Eri, muga and mulberry are special types of silk produced here. Muga is the monopoly of Assam. Plywood and safety match industries are the major forest-based industries. Handmade paper industry and cane and bamboo industry exist at the small and cottage industry level. Besides, there are more than 300 varieties of medicinal plants and herbs in the Assam forests. Assam produces approximately 5 million tonnes of crude oil in a year, out of the total annual production of 34.4 million tonnes in the country. Natural gas output of the state is 3,740 million cubic meters per annum. The state also has rich resources of coal, limestone, china clay, sillimanite, granite, and gypsum. The state has identified hydroelectric power, coal-based industries, food processing, floriculture, inland fishery, granite mining and polishing as export-oriented industries and infrastructure projects. Looking for takers. In Manipur, the small industries pertain to cycles and cycle parts, cement, pulp and paper products, vanaspati oil, drugs and pharmaceuticals, steel and iron rods, spinning and weaving mills, plastic and plastic products, fruit processing, soap and toiletry products, rubber and rubber products, disposable syringes, hosiery and hosiery products, mineral-based industrial products and televisions. Most units are in the small-scale sector catering to local needs. Any new buyers? Meghalaya is predominantly an agricultural economy. The main crops are rice, maize, wheat, potatoes, pulses and oilseeds. Jute, mesta, cotton, ginger, arecanut, betel leaves, pineapple, orange and guava too are grown. The state has rich mineral resources like coal, limestone, clay and sillimanite. Rich uranium deposits are also found, but await exploitation. Exports, anyone? Mizoram is agricultural as well and has rich forest resources including cane and bamboo. Teak plantations have come up in the forests, which will be commercially used after 5-10 years. The state government provides cotton and woolen yarn to artisans engaged in the production of handloom products. The state has mineral resources which have yet to be exploited. Mizoram depends heavily on trade through Champhai for a number of agricultural products. Considering the high volume of imports of gems, precious and semi-precious stones into India through the border, cutting and polishing of gems and manufacture of jewelry for export could be undertaken in the state. The required skill for manufacture of gold jewelry and diamond studded jewelry is available in Champhai and Aizawl. Timer to resurrect the Champhai-Rih sector? Agriculture is the mainstay of Nagaland as well. The major occupation here is paddy cultivation. The state is rich in flora and fauna. The secondary occupations include cottage and small industries, sericulture and raising aromatic plants. Economic activities include sugar, transport, hotels, veneer/saw mill, engineering workshop, printing press, textiles/handlooms, plastic, citronella, food products/processing, stone crusher, bone mill, floor tiles, handicrafts, mining/coal, dressmaking/knitting, pulp and paper. A large number of items including engineering products, textiles, plastic items, food products, toiletries, electrical and electronics can be developed in the state. In addition, the state has a number of sericulture farms, reeling and spinning units and cocoon preservation centers. Besides, industrial establishments for food processing can be set up, utilizing local production of items like guava, pineapple, bananas, oranges and tomatoes. Other items which can be developed in Nagaland include bricks, cement and iron bars. High time some buyers arrived. Tripura’s economy is agrarian as well, with paddy being the main agricultural produce. Other crops are pulses, oilseeds and jute. Some horticultural products including oranges, pineapples, bananas, lemons and arecanuts are also grown. Rubber has emerged as an important plantation product. Tripura also produces a substantial quantity of tea annually. Teak, agar, mahogany and sisu are grown in the forests. Medicinal plants like nuxvomica are available too. Bamboo-based handicraft industry is one of the main economic activities of the state. Industries having potential in the state on the basis of its natural resources are fertilizer units for urea and ammonia, power generation, natural rubber products like tires, tubes and gloves, various processed food items, handmade paper and packing materials. Will someone import these instead of militants? So far nothing much has happened. But then we all live on hope, don’t we? Yet again, some things can and do happen. Some things can, but don’t.