India, Nov. 5 -- As India looks towards Viksit Bharat 2047, its eight northeastern states are beginning to occupy an increasingly significant space in the national discourse, for good reason. This region, 98% of whose boundary is international, sits at a point where India's economic geography is changing. In the course of our work in the region over the past decades, we have come to understand that the North East is not just about its strategic location - it is in fact a powerful engine propelling India's young population towards long-term development goals. Many of the North East states are demonstrating capacity and innate potential to foster higher economic growth rates than many of the remaining states.

The North East is better under...