Mainland India

{{Short description|Region comprising most of India, excluding Northeast and Island regions}}

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Mainland India is a geo-political term sometimes used to refer to India excluding the region of Northeast India and Kashmir,{{Efn|Some sources refer specifically to the valley of Kashmir as being outside of mainland India.{{Cite web |date=25 March 2023 |title=Railway To Connect Kashmir With Mainland India By Dec: Minister |url=https://kashmirobserver.net/2023/03/25/kashmir-to-get-specially-designed-vande-bharat-express-railway-minister/ |access-date=11 September 2024 |website=Kashmir Observer |language=en-US}}{{Cite web |title=World’s highest railway bridge to open in Kashmir soon |url=https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2023/4/27/worlds-highest-railway-bridge-to-open-in-kashmir-soon |access-date=2025-04-04 |website=Al Jazeera |language=en}}}}{{Cite news |title=India’s bridge to Kashmir: Path to prosperity or tool of control? |url=https://www.csmonitor.com/World/Asia-South-Central/2022/0929/India-s-bridge-to-Kashmir-Path-to-prosperity-or-tool-of-control |access-date=2025-04-04 |work=Christian Science Monitor |issn=0882-7729}}{{Cite web |last=Zargar |first=Safwat |date=2024-03-06 |title=‘A message for mainland’: In Kashmir, few expectations ahead of Modi’s first visit after August 2019 |url=https://scroll.in/article/1064793/a-message-for-mainland-in-kashmir-few-expectations-ahead-of-modis-first-visit-after-august-2019 |access-date=2025-04-04 |website=Scroll.in |language=en}}{{Cite journal |last=Ayyub |first=Rana |date=2024-06-05 |title=Behind The Facade Of Modi’s ‘New Kashmir’ |url=https://www.noemamag.com/behind-the-facade-of-modis-new-kashmir/ |language=en-US}} with the north-east connected by the Siliguri Corridor.{{Cite journal |last=McDuie-Ra |first=Duncan |date=2 July 2016 |title=Adjacent identities in Northeast India |url=http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/14631369.2015.1091654 |journal=Asian Ethnicity |language=en |volume=17 |issue=3 |pages=400–413 |doi=10.1080/14631369.2015.1091654 |s2cid=147657462 |issn=1463-1369|url-access=subscription }}{{Cite journal |last=Malik |first=Hasan Yaser |date=February 2015 |title=Siliguri: A Geopolitical Manoeuvre Corridor in the Eastern Himalayan Region for China and India |url=https://www.proquest.com/docview/1790497619 |language=English |journal=Contemporary Chinese Political Economy and Strategic Relations |volume=1 |issue=3 |pages=699–VIII|id={{ProQuest|1790497619}} }}{{Cite journal |last=Dutta |first=Urmitapa |date=February 2015 |title=The Long Way Home: The Vicissitudes of Belonging and Otherness in Northeast India |url=http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/1077800414542703 |journal=Qualitative Inquiry |language=en |volume=21 |issue=2 |pages=161–172 |doi=10.1177/1077800414542703 |s2cid=143776880 |issn=1077-8004|url-access=subscription }}{{Cite journal |last=Goswami |first=Uddipana |date=2019 |title=Armed in Northeast India: Special Powers, Act or No Act |s2cid=204780215 }}{{cite journal |last=Haokip |first=Thongkholal |title=Conceptualising Northeast India: A Discursive Analysis on Diversity |journal=Bangladesh e-Journal of Sociology |volume=8 |issue=2 |pages=109–120 |date=July 2011 |ssrn=1623524}}

In a geographical context, Mainland India includes the entirety of India (including Northeast India) in continental Asia, excluding islands such as the union territories of Andaman and Nicobar Islands and Lakshadweep.

Geopolitical term

{{See also|Asian relations with Northeast India#India|label 1=Northeast India's relationship with the rest of India}}

= History =

During the colonial era, British officials conceptualised of an "India proper" which was perceived as totally distinct from present-day Northeast India due primarily to racial differences.{{Cite journal |last1=Gergan |first1=Mabel D. |last2=Smith |first2=Sara H. |date=25 January 2022 |title=Theorizing racialization through India's "Mongolian Fringe" |url=https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/01419870.2021.1925319 |journal= Ethnic and Racial Studies|volume=45 |issue=2 |pages=361–382 |doi=10.1080/01419870.2021.1925319 |issn=0141-9870|url-access=subscription }}

= Contemporary =

Mainland India has been noted for having neglected Northeast India to a significant extent due to the Northeast's distinctness,{{Cite journal |last=Hennig |first=Thomas |date=2015 |title=Energy, Hydropower, and Geopolitics — Northeast India and its Neighbors: A Critical Review of the Establishment of India's Largest Hydropower Base |url=https://hasp.ub.uni-heidelberg.de/journals/asien/article/view/18889 |journal=ASIEN: The German Journal on Contemporary Asia |language=en |issue=134 |pages=121–142 |doi=10.11588/asien.2015.134.18889 |issn=2701-8431}} with the Northeast having become somewhat alienated as a result,{{Cite journal |last=Marbaniang |first=Strong P. |date=3 April 2023 |title=Women Care and Practices in the Management of Childhood Diarrhea in Northeast India |url=https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/13575279.2020.1812534 |journal=Child Care in Practice |language=en |volume=29 |issue=2 |pages=139–151 |doi=10.1080/13575279.2020.1812534 |s2cid=224957267 |issn=1357-5279|url-access=subscription }} and ending up trending towards East Asian cultural influences as a result.{{Cite web |last=Das |first=Bijoyeta |title=Manipur: A part of India where Korea rules |url=https://www.aljazeera.com/features/2014/2/17/manipur-a-part-of-india-where-korea-rules |access-date=2 May 2024 |website=Al Jazeera |language=en}}

References

Category:Regions of India