India's North-east eyes S-E Asia as trading partner via Myanmar

THE new age, homegrown brands of the "Seven Sisters" of India's North-east and the state of Sikkim - He Man 9000 Beer, Freshy Sauces, Elrhino dung paper, made from rhino droppings, and a bevy of online startups - are looking at integrating with their neighbours in South-east Asia, as the region of mountains and forests shakes off militant insurgencies, and ethnic and political turmoil.

The seven sister states - Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland and Tripura - are witnessing a mushrooming of new companies that are keen to trade across their long land border with Myanmar, which serves as a natural land-bridge to South-east Asia.

The logic of geography dictates that the seven sisters, and Sikkim, should boost their trade with Southeast Asia from the current levels because the North-east region shares 98 per cent of its border with the neighbouring countries and merely two per cent with mainland India. The seven sisters have four international borders - with China, Myanmar, Bangladesh and Bhutan - and trade is progressing well with all of them.