Governance and Trans-Border Issues in Manipur Borderlands: Re-conceptualising India’s Myanmar Policy

Abstract

In the contemporary global order, border areas have gone beyond the notion of being regarded simply as frontiers or boundaries and have become an indispensable part of a country’s foreign policy. Same applies to the border areas of India’s Northeast adjoining Myanmar covering a total distance of 1643 kilometres, without the exception of Manipur borderlands. India’s Myanmar policy within the renewed Act East policy emphasising on connectivity agenda, economic cooperation, infrastructure development, security issues and energy diplomacy, changed Manipur’s borderland into an inseparable variable because of the reciprocity inherent. However, the area, despite its geostrategic advantages, failed to develop. Rather, it is marked by juxtapositions. While it acts as transit to India - ASEAN connectivity, it has also got many porous cross border villages where sign of the state governance are dysfunctional. The proper governance mechanism is missing. Traditional practice of state-centric security still forms the basis of any policy related to the region. Ultimately, the big question is can India’s foreign policy moves synchronise with the dynamics of these border areas without compromising the externalities and reciprocities with Myanmar. The aim of the paper is to understand the prospects and missing links associated with the Manipur borderlands specifically in India’s Myanmar policy, and its implications for the policy makers and the stakeholders.