Political economy of India's North-East border

Trade across India's North-East Region (NER) is an essential component of India's Look East Policy (LEP), an integral initiative in the reformulating of India's foreign policy in accordance with the global reconfiguration of post-Cold War international politics. This is in tune with India's own national interest, which mandates the economic development of the NER. The development of trade at India's North-Eastern borders with neighbouring countries is conceived as a necessary precondition of the economic development of the NER in particular and the country in general. In order to fully harness the potential of the NER it is imperative to advance trade through its borders.This Volume delves into the intricacies of border trade and appraises its benefits and also the lacunae impeding it. The main thrust is to emphasize the potential and the constraints of trade at and through India's border with neighbouring countries, as well as to gauge how NER stands to benefit from the development of these trade transactions. The Volume is the outcome of a National Seminar titled Trade at India's Borders with Neighbouring Countries: Challenges and Prospects, organized by Maulana Abul Kalam Azad Institute of Asian Studies (MAKAIAS) in collaboration with the International Relations Department of Sikkim University at Gangtok on 18 and 19 October 2013.