How does India build in its border states? A case study of statebuilding in the NEFA region( 1950-1970)

State building in India's borders has been a complicated and dynamic process. In this paper I will use the cases of NEFA (North-east Frontier Agency), the erstwhile Arunachal Pradesh, and Nagaland to argue that India approaches state building differently in both cases. Even though both had similar interactions with the British colonial state, the priorities of the newly independent India shifted as it started to secure its borders. State building outcomes look different when there is ethnic mobilization against the state, India finds it harder to build in its borders as it faces resistance. This can change drastically when there is an internationally significant border where the other side seeks to stake a claim in the land. State building will be more effective, and India is able to deliver on welfare schemes. This paper offers a theory of state building by India in its borderlands and looks at its effectiveness. The postcolonial state building process and the accompanying violence shifted the state building and national integration outcomes of both the states drastically,