Northeastern region is the gateway to Southeast Asia, says Jaishankar

Weeks after the Chief Adviser of Bangladesh’s interim government Muhammad Yunus referred to India’s northeastern region as “landlocked”, External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar on Wednesday (April 16, 2025) highlighted the region as a “gateway to Southeast Asia”.

In a virtual address for the ambassadors’ meet of the North East Investors Summit 2025, Mr. Jaishankar spoke about the potential of the region and encouraged investors to take advantage of what the region has to offer.

“The northeastern region is at the heart of many key Indian policies — it could be ‘neighbourhood’ first, Act East or BIMSTEC. The northeast adjoins five of our neighbours on land. Its boundaries are the interface between the Indian subcontinent and the ASEAN. Many of our recent initiatives involving immediate neighbours emanate from this very region,” said Mr. Jaishankar.

The remarks from the External Affairs Minister comes a fortnight after Mr. Yunus created controversy by referring to the northeastern region as a “landlocked” territory that could be an “extension” of the Chinese market. The Ministry of External Affairs had not made an official response though India terminated transshipment of cargo from Bangladesh through India’s land and airports citing “congestion” following the remarks.

“Highlighted the growing relevance of the northeast — as a gateway to Southeast Asia, a tourism hub and a contributor to the global workplace,” said Mr. Jaishankar in a remark on X.

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“We are seeking to address long-standing challenges, some emanating from our past history,” Mr. Jaishankar said, highlighting the ‘Purvodaya’ scheme of the Government of India that he described as an “endeavour in that regard”. Mr. Jaishankar also said the government had highlighted the tourism potential of northeastern States during the run-up to the 2023 G-20 summit in Delhi when some of the preparatory meetings had been held there.

He also spoke of the trilateral highway that aims to connect India and Thailand through Myanmar and the Kaladan Multimodal Transit Transport Project (KMTTP) that was conceived to connect the northeastern region with Myanmar’s port of Sittwe. “In every sense it is a hub whose relevance will grow with the passage of time,” said Mr. Jaishankar.