India’s Look East Policy, Myanmar and Southwest China: The Stilwell Road and Development of the Sub-Region

• In Event: Asian Borders Globalized: Towards the Institutionalization of an Emerging Field

Abstract

The opening of the historic Stilwell Road, which connects Ledo in Assam with Kunming in China’s Yunnan province via the Pangsau Pass in Arunachal Pradesh and Kachin state in Myanmar, has been a particular focus for the state governments of Arunachal Pradesh and Assam over the past few years. This paper explores the potential of the Stilwell Road to be key that unlocks India’s Look East engagement with Southeast Asia and Southwest China. Arunachal Pradesh is a potential energy powerhouse of Northeast India, possessing as it does enormous hydropower potential along with as-yet untapped reserves of coal, oil and gas, and it could well serve as the fulcrum of Indian energy cooperation with Myanmar and the rest of Southeast Asia. Given China’s growing influence in Northern Myanmar’s restive Kachin state, India cannot afford to delay its strategic engagement with this region. It is in the mutual interest of the governments of India, Myanmar and China to have joint stakes in the opening of their borders with a view towards the economic development of this strategic sub-region.

This paper will examine existing sub-regional frameworks such as the Bangladesh-China-India-Myanmar (BCIM) Initiative, and assess its ability to promote a mutual understanding over shared borders within the region, develop the multilateral cooperation necessary for both regional development and the sharing of its benefits, as envisaged by the recent economic corridor development agenda.

Author

• Mirza Zulfiqur Rahman, Indian Institute of Technology