Linking India and Eastern Neighbours: Development in the Northeast and Borderlands studies different aspects of India’s bilateral relations with neighbouring countries and discusses implications of development initiatives in India’s northeastern region (NER) and its borderlands. The NER shares borders with five countries. The central government has shown interest in developing infrastructure in the NER, and state governments are taking initiatives to promote trade relations with the bordering countries. The book discusses the causes for underdevelopment and examines the initiatives taken to overcome the problems of the land-locked region. It provides a comprehensive account of varied processes at work in India’s northeastern borderlands. The book looks closely at the lifeworld of the border communities and myriad cross-border interactions. It throws light on the economic potentiality and preparedness of the NER, the significance of border haats, diverse manifestatsions of border crossing and nature of inter-ethnic interactions. The book also explains the theoretical significance and practical relevance of studying border processes. Contents: Acknowledgements Introduction PART I: India’s Relations with Neighbours: Politics of Development in NER Mahendra P. Lama Northeast India as Engine of India’s Growth: Reorienting the Act East Policy Goals Rakhee Bhattacharya Political Economy of Road Infrastructure in India’s Northeast since Liberalization Bishnu Dev Pant Irritants in India–Nepal Relations and Potential Benefits of Greater Cooperation Yedzin W. Tobgay Indo-Bhutanese Relations: Evolution and Changing Contexts V Abu Hena Reza Hasan and Sayada Jannatun Naim Bangladesh and Northeast India: Planning Communication Links under GATT Article Hu Xiaowen Yunnan and Northeast India: Chinese Perspective on Sub-regional Development Munmun Majumdar The Northeast and Myanmar: India–Myanmar Engagement in the Modi Years Amrendra Kumar Thakur Trade in Pre-colonial Arunachal Pradesh and Tibet Dechen Bhutia Reviving Border Trade and Tourism along Nathu La in Sikkim Suparna Bhattacharjee Tripura–Bangladesh Borderlands: Socio-economic Significance of Border Haats Rakhal Kumar Purkayastha Meghalaya–Bangladesh Border Trade: A Study of the Balat–Sunamganj Haat PART II Border Crossing and Inter-Community Relations: Cooperation and Conflict Tejimala Gurung Nag Nepali/Gorkha Settlers in Northeast India: Colonial Encounters and Post-colonial Dilemmas Emdorini Thangkhiew Burmese Indians: Growth of Burmese Nationalism and Ethnic Discrimination Saurabh Kaushik Returnees and Refugees from Burma to India: Differing State Responses H. Srikanth and T. T. Haokip Drug Trafficking in and through Myanmar and Manipur T. T. Haokip and H. Srikanth Understanding the Kukis’ Opposition to Fencing of the Indo-Myanmar Border Jelle J. P. Wouters Borders That Divide: Naga Ethnoscape and Idea of Supranational Citizenship R. K. Satapathy and P. C. Lalthansiami Chin Migration to Mizoram: Ethnic Affinity and Changing Perceptions Index