The northeast region comprising India's eight northeastern states -- Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Tripura and Sikkim -- is undergoing dramatic change.
It has overcome several (but not all) security challenges and is now heading toward economic development. Political changes have been helpful. So is the extensive web of linkages with neighbouring Bangladesh. Japan also has emerged as a significant development partner for both India and Bangladesh.
The third India-Japan Intellectual Dialogue held this month (April 11–12), hosted by the Asian Confluence (Ascon), in Agartala, Tripura, was an ideal opportunity to assess the evolving thinking of experts and policymakers. It showed the current decade may produce path-breaking changes in the northeast, bringing the troika of Bangladesh, India and Japan closer.
