China’s Belt and Road Initiative and the Indo-Naga Conundrum

There is a growing body of work examining the benefits, drawbacks, and consequences of China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), and given China’s global ascendance, the BRI is expected to have a significant impact on a vast and geopolitically important region.The simple fact is that India is not powerful enough to respond to BRI in the global community on its own as it is now a truly global endeavor; and as India and China become more reliant on one another – with China shifting toward high-tech and intelligent manufacturing, India has the potential to become the world’s hub for low and medium-cost manufactured goods. A peaceful political resolution to the Indo-Naga political issue is required for BCIMEC, or even India’s AEP, to be implemented successfully. Resolving the issue will not only increase trust and confidence in India’s relations with the Nagas, but it will also provide a new direction for the NER to thrive, resulting in a very balanced relationship between India, China, Myanmar, and Bangladesh. Projects such as the BRI, BCIMEC, and India’s AEP can attract massive investment and infrastructure development, providing India, particularly the NER, with better overland access to China and its immediate neighbors