HISTORY as well as geography had dealt a strong blow to the eastern part of British India with the Partition of what was once united Bengal. Following political Partition, ethnically distinct tribal populations and remote mountainous portions were moulded into small Indian states and segregated from the old Assam. Partition disrupted the key trade and transport routes and effectively landlocked the northeast part of India. Since then, this region has remained one of the most economically backward regions of India and the Indian subcontinent.
A welcome trend and a recent one at that has helped the Indian economy, particularly the trade sector, to benefit significantly from the global trends and the simultaneous internal trade reforms pursued by the government. The trade gateways for India and the neighbouring South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) countries include ports, airports and land border crossings. It is being recognised that improved infrastructure and logistic services of roads, ports and airports are important to integrate India’s exporters into the global value chain and competitiveness, particularly so in the northeast region which currently lacks adequate infrastructure.
In this compilation of papers by experts in different economic fields, the introduction or the first chapter captures well the approach for development and growth for a lagging economic region – the northeast part of India.
The book will be of special interest to planners and businessmen.
(Sage Publications India Pvt Ltd, B1/I-1 Mohan Cooperative Industrial Area, Mathura Road, New Delhi -110044; www.sagepublications.com)
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