The Indian northeastern states are within a stone's throw from Bangladesh. But in terms of connectivity, the landlocked region, as the present situation indicates, remains thousands of miles away. It is really surprising that despite being next-door neighbour, Bangladesh has not yet been able to make any headway in making its presence felt in the markets there. Only a negligible number of items have drawn attention of the consumers there and those, too, go there mostly through unofficial channels. Some of these Indian states had hosted a large number of the Bangladeshi refugees during the War of Independence in 1971. That is why, the peoples of the northeastern states of India and Bangladesh are very close at heart but the latter's exporters could not make any mark so far in the former's markets. An urgent letter from the Bangladesh High Commissioner in New Delhi to the ministry of commerce testifies to this. According to a recent FE report, the envoy, in a letter to the Commerce Minister, stressed the need for Bangladesh taking immediate steps for access to markets of the north-east before Thailand and Myanmar take over. The envoy made a number of recommendations for the ministry of commerce to consider. Most of these relate to building better communication facility as well as infrastructural facilities for smooth connectivity.
India is on record as expressing its interest in facilitating Bangladeshi exporters to market their quality products to its north-eastern states. In the distant past, several business teams had visited these states but no report on the prospects has yet been made public. Political relations between Dhaka and Delhi were never better and warm as they are today. Therefore, it is now time for Bangladesh to impress on India the need for removing all non-tariff barriers that stand in the way of Bangladesh making a breakthrough in marketing its goods. The urgency for Bangladesh is much greater than that of India in view of the fact that Thailand and Myanmar are now making efforts to capture the markets of the northeastern states. Because of close Dhaka-New Delhi bilateral ties, Bangladesh deserves priority in terms of trade facilitation by India.
The Indian northeast, known as the seven sister states, have more than 50 million consumers. Also called 'Paradise Unexplored,' the region comprises the contiguous states of Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Meghalaya, Manipur, Mizoram, Nagaland and Tripura. Such states cover an area of 255,511 km. Although there is great ethnic and religious diversity within the seven states, they also have similarities in political, social and economic contexts. Bangladesh is surrounded by four north-eastern states which all together share a 1,880 km border with Bangladesh with 1,434 km on land and 446 km riverine. North-east India may serve as a gateway for Bangladesh's access to the Indian markets and in course of time may act as a game changer in the Bangladesh-India trade relations.
With a well thought-out long-term policy, the north-eastern states of India have the potential to emerge as a strategic base for domestic and foreign investors to tap the business opportunities in the contiguous markets of China, Myanmar, Laos, Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia, Malaysia, Indonesia and beyond. With the growing realisation of the Indian policy-makers about the potential of the north-east, it assumes a greater importance now than before for Bangladesh to view the region on the same wave-length. This will certainly ensure extensive mutual benefits to both the nations.
