Asian relations with Northeast India
Since India's 1947 independence, 98% of Northeast India's borders have been with other Asian countries, making it a strategic frontier region. India's Act East policy seeks to harness this connectivity in the modern day.
East Asia
China
China claims the border state of Arunachal Pradesh as part of South Tibet, which has resulted in tensions between India and China. Since 2009, China has issued "stapled visas" to people from Arunachal Pradesh when they wish to travel to China, signaling that they are perceived as having the same right of movement as Chinese citizens throughout China.In the late 19th century, the British sent an expedition to guarantee suzerainty in Sikkim, aiming to secure it from Tibet. In postcolonial times, China had a dispute over the status of Sikkim, which acceded to India in 1975, until 2003. However, 21st century border clashes have occurred between India and China in the region.
Japan
During World War 2, the Japanese military collaborated with the Indian National Army in the region; eventually, the westward expansion of the Japanese Empire was put to a stop in Northeast India in the 1944 Battle of Imphal.Northeast India is currently being prioritized by India and Japan as part of Japan's Free and Open Indo-Pacific strategy and as part of India's Act East policy, with both countries seeing the region as especially important for creating trading routes due to their collective rejection of China's Belt and Road Initiative. Northeast India, in conjunction with the neighboring BIMSTEC country of Bangladesh, is seen by Japan as an important region in containing China, while India seeks to use its northeastern region to increase engagement with Southeast Asia. India's guarding of its northeast corner as a sensitive border region that it is unwilling to allow untrusted partner countries to invest in, is a major factor leading to India desiring Japan's involvement in the region.
South Asia
Bangladesh
Northeast India is dependent on Bangladesh for access to the sea via Bangladesh’s Chittagong port. Initiatives for connectivity, like the Kaladan Multi-Modal Transit Transport Project and the Akhaura–Agartala line, are also relevant. Bangladesh is also part of a proposed railway network that would allow the Northeast to connect with India through a more direct route.Immigration from Bangladesh has been a concern for indigenous populations in Northeast India, which oppose significant demographic change. This immigration has led to historical movements such as the Assam Movement of the 1980s. In the early 21st century, some people in Assam and other states were deported to Bangladesh on suspicion of having illegally immigrated from Bangladesh.
In 2025, India restricted its imports from Bangladesh after comments by caretaker Prime Minister Muhammad Yunus and others regarding Northeast India were deemed to be a threat, with the reduction in border trade impacting northeastern communities.
Bhutan
Bhutan helped open up air routes from Northeast India to Southeast Asia in 2018. In the same year, Bhutan also opened its second consulate in the easternmost portions of India in Guwahati, Assam.India
Present-day Northeast India started to be annexed into British India in the early 19th century to defend the eastern frontier from the incursions of the Burmese Empire, with Assam becoming part of the Bengal Presidency until 1874.The treatment of the Northeast as separate from the rest of India during the colonial era has continued to negatively impact its integration into the Republic of India.
Nepal
Some retired Nepali troops settled in Northeast India during the colonial era. In the present day, there has been some indigenous backlash to the Nepali diaspora.Sikkim's 1975 accession to India was influenced by its ties to Nepal, as its ethnically Nepali population felt discriminated against by the Sikkimese government and sought better treatment by joining India.
Southeast Asia
India has sought to use Northeast India to connect to Southeast Asia for trading purposes. However, recent conflicts such as the 2023–2024 Manipur violence have reduced the stability of the region for this purpose.Myanmar
Myanmar is the only Southeast Asian country that borders Northeast India. Both places were part of British India for several decades; the dynamics of British rule in the region, which was the first time that a pan-Indian empire had fully conquered the Northeastern South Asian space, and Myanmar's 1937 separation from Indian administration, still affect their border regions today.There are substantial cross-border ethnic ties, with the Indian government having allowed a limited amount of unregulated movement across the border from 2018 to 2024.