A New Incentive for U.S.-India collaboration on Indo-Pacific connectivity

By Vineeth Murthy

Bridge under construction in northeast India. Source: Shantanoo's flickr photostream, used under a creative commons license.

Bridge under construction in northeast India. Source: Shantanoo’s flickr photostream, used under a creative commons license.

While campaigning ahead of the 2014 Lok Sabha elections, the Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) then-candidate for prime minister, Narendra Modi, visited northeastern India and made strong promises to develop this area. The BJP went on to win the majority of parliament seats from northeast India’s largest state, Assam, and Modi will now be under some pressure to follow through on his campaign promises. This new policy may provide a new avenue for U.S.-India collaboration.

Connectivity between India’s northeast and Southeast Asia is becoming an important agenda item for both the United States and India. Recently, the U.S. government prioritized the creation of an Indo-Pacific Economic Corridor – connecting India, Nepal, and Bangladesh with Myanmar and Thailand as one of its main objectives in the region. Fatema Sumar, the deputy assistant secretary for the Bureau of South and Central Asian Affairs, stressed to a business audience in Kolkata last month that this kind of regional economic integration could facilitate trade, create new economic opportunities, and bring greater stability and prosperity across the corridor with developing countries like Bangladesh and Myanmar standing to benefit from deeper trade and investment linkages.

India’s role is crucial in the corridor’s development. It is vital to develop infrastructure in northeast India, which has largely been neglected by the Indian government. There were delays in several infrastructure projects due to non-performing contractors, land acquisition conditions, statutory clearances, poor infrastructure mobilization and violence against site supervisors. While these problems are reflective of India’s endemic infrastructure problems, issues are accentuated due to the northeast region’s remoteness and mountainous terrain.

Apart from its interest in developing the northeast, the newly elected Indian government is generally interested in infrastructure development. It will seek to replicate the Gujarat model of development on a national scale, especially in the area of road infrastructure. The annual budget for roads in Gujarat went up from $26 million in 1996 to $550 million in 2011. The state government, led by then-chief minister Modi, utilized information technology to improve transparency in road management that allowed citizens as well as project managers to understand the exact reason for traffic delays and take appropriate action. The road density in the state stands at 146 km per 100,000 people, higher than India’s average of 126 km per 100,000 people.

In order to replicate the Gujarat model and execute infrastructure projects successfully, security in the region is vital. China claims Arunachal Pradesh as its territory and Chinese troops reportedly entered the state last year. Multiple internal insurgent groups operate along the border and target infrastructure facilities and civilians. There has also been an ongoing separatist struggle in the region since 1940’s. With General VK Singh’s appointment as the minister of dtate for Development of the North-East Region, there will be renewed emphasis on security.

The focus on building northeast India’s infrastructure and regional connectivity creates new scope for U.S.-India collaboration. It is a new area of true alignment in regional goals, and considering that Assam must hold its next state election by May 2016, the BJP will have motivation to show progress so the party can consolidate its initial electoral success in this region.

Mr. Vineeth Vasudeva Murthy is a research scholar with the Wadhwani Chair in US-India Policy Studies at CSIS

 

 

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