NORTH EASTERN REGION OF INDIA: GATEWAY TO ASEAN COUNTRIES

Officially designated as the Northeast Region (NER), Northeast India is an area made up of eight states that area extremely strategic due to its location, ethnic, and Tran’s border realities. Most importantly, the NER international geographical proximity, shares 98% of its borders with international countries such as Myanmar, China, Bangladesh, Bhutan and Nepal, which makes it more important in terms of connectivity with ASEAN countries. The Indian government launched the Act East Policy, a proactive shift to Look East Policy of P.V. Narasimha Rao, in November 2014. The Act East Policy is anticipated to serve as the macro- development of India's North-eastern area in its operational aspect. Therefore, Act East Policy is being implemented by the government of India with a focus on trade and economic links with ASEAN nations, where visions for trade and the economy typically include mobility, the flow of goods, and regional implementation of NER and bridges are being built throughout the North East Region for this reason. Additionally, there are some sub- regional forum initiatives, such as the Mekong Ganga Cooperation (MGC), the Bangladesh China India and Myanmar Forum (BCIM), and the Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectorial Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC), which are all intended to serve as gateways to East and South East Asia. This research paper will attempt how the Act East Policy affects the North Eastern Region and how North Eastern region become gateway to ASEAN countries. It will also look at the difficulties and how the North East Region perceives the Act East Policy.