Pratidin Conclave 2025: Experts Decode Northeast’s Strategic Future Amid Shifting Borders

The inaugural session of the Pratidin Conclave 2025 established the tone for a day of intense deliberations on the region's most crucial issues. Titled "Northeast at the Borders", the session convened military veterans, academics, and policy leaders who discussed how the changing geopolitics of Bangladesh, Myanmar, and Nepal are remolding India's Northeast's security and economic destiny.

Moderated by senior journalist and Pratidin Time Consulting Editor Mrinal Talukdar, the panel included Lt. Gen. (Retd) Rana Pratap Kalita, Prof. M. Amarjeet Singh of Jamia Millia Islamia, and Dr. Mirza Zulfiqur Rahman, Visiting Associate Fellow at the Institute of Chinese Studies, New Delhi.

Security at the Core: Lt. Gen. Rana Pratap Kalita

Terming the Northeast as "strategically critical" to India, Lt. Gen. Kalita emphasized that open borders, unresolved conflicts and simmering insurgencies render the region especially vulnerable.

"The change of regime in Bangladesh and Nepal, followed by the unrest in Myanmar and growing fundamentalism, has made the situation highly complicated. These further aggravate the ethnic problem of the region and present direct threats to security," he cautioned.

He emphasized that sustainable development in the Northeast is not possible without lasting peace. "Peace and security in the borders and within are essential if the region has to match the rest of the nation," Kalita added. He called on the government to expedite border settlements, seek political solutions to long-running insurgencies, and heavily invest in more intelligent border infrastructure—utilizing AI and technology to enhance security forces.

The former Army commander also highlighted the vulnerability of the Siliguri Corridor. "Any unfriendly footprint in the neighbourhood endangers this lifeline to the Northeast—physically or even in a hybrid form," he warned.

The Youth Factor: Prof. M. Amarjeet Singh

Prof. Singh took the discussion to a socio-political level, highlighting the contribution of youth unrest in defining upheavals in South Asia.

What we experienced in Sri Lanka, Nepal, and Bangladesh were youth-led movements of educated people frustrated with unemployment and unavailability of opportunities. The same frustration is present in our Northeastern states, and it fuels insurgent movements here," he added.

He cautioned that regional disillusionment is reflected in the Northeast's own adversities—illegal trafficking, smuggling, and unauthorized infiltration across borders. "The violence in Myanmar has already pushed thousands of people into Manipur, Mizoram, and elsewhere. Such influxes inevitably lead to internal struggles within communities, worsening existing ethnic cleavages," Singh added.

Looking Beyond Borders: Dr. Mirza Zulfiqur Rahman

Extending the debate to the broader Indo-Pacific frame, Dr. Rahman contended that India needs to balance security with substantive regional cooperation, especially as China intensifies its footprint in South Asia.

"The Northeast is India's most international neighborhood. Projects of connectivity in the region will amount to nothing unless they open up to our proximate neighbours. China has already used para-diplomacy in Myanmar and Bangladesh by calling upon cultural connectors. India needs to do the same by viewing Northeastern communities not as isolated, but as bridges to the neighbourhood," Rahman asserted.

He pointed out the strategic potential of Bangladesh as India's doorway to turning "land-locked to land-linked," referring to projects such as the Kaladan Multimodal Transit Transport Project. Yet he warned that current conflicts in Myanmar's Arakan region complicate such initiatives.

Significantly, Dr. Rahman asked policymakers to look beyond political but ecological interdependence as well. "Before the boundaries of nation-states, this was a bio-region. Patterns of migration, environmental disturbances, and ecological links should also influence our border policies," he contended.

The Takeaway

The session reiterated a common theme: India's Northeast cannot be developed and secured in splendid isolation. Border conflicts, youth unrest, insurgency, and environmental interdependence bind the region's destiny closely to the ebbing and flowing political tides of its neighbors.

From strengthening border technology to ending insurgencies, from youth empowerment to using cultural bridges—the experts converged that India's strategy to its Northeast has turned out to be holistic, pragmatic, and highly responsive to its unstable neighborhood.

Also Read: Unemployment, Youth Frustration Fueling Insurgency in Northeast, Warns Expert