Opening the Northeast will do it a world of good

The spin-offs could be multiple: tourism, jobs and more revenue generation

India’s Northeast (NE) has been off limits for foreigners for a long time for various reasons, the main being the State’s excessive concern about national security. But the good news is that the Centre is planning to open up the NE, following requests from the state governments . Under the Foreigners (Protected Areas) Order, 1958, all areas falling between the ‘Inner line’ and the International Border of the State are considered a ‘Protected Area’. In the Northeast, this rule is applicable to Arunachal Pradesh, Sikkim, Manipur, Mizoram and Nagaland. Under this order, every foreigner, except a citizen of Bhutan, who wants to enter and stay in a protected area, is required to get a special permit. Citizens of Afghanistan, China and Pakistan and foreign nationals of Pakistani origin are not issued the permit without the home ministry’s approval.

If this promise of opening up this breathtakingly beautiful region materialises and the states develop their infrastructure and capitalise on the existing educated human resources, the tourism sector can build on them. The spin-offs could be multiple: employment, better infrastructure, and improved revenue generation. From the Centre’s perspective, this could be the appropriate reply to China’s claims on Arunachal’s territory. This is a far better approach than pursing an eyeball-to-eyeball confrontation.

However, the State must ensure that there is little disturbance to the fragile ecosystem of the area and, more critically, a carrying-capacity report must be prepared for each tourist location so that there is a reasonable cap on the number of people that can visit the area. This will help these areas to develop sustainably and remain attractive at the same time.