Defying all odds particularly the natural calamities that came in its way, Border Haat at Pangsau Pass on the international border with Myanmar will finally take off. This initiative besides being significant for the local populace of the nearby vicinity in terms of economic parameters will have larger ramifications since it might act as an influencer for framing policy decisions for creation of more such along the lengthy international border of Arunachal Pradesh.

The concept of border haat has received wide acceptance during recent years since it has proved to be a catalyst in transforming the economic picture of the area where it is located. According to the subject of economics, there is a two-fold rationale behind these border haats. The first one is that it creates the much needed opportunity for local people to sell their products and buy items of daily necessities which they otherwise could not due to remoteness. If this is counted as a micro level benefit, from the point of view of bilateral relationship, it is also a great tool for fostering socio-cultural-economic ties between the participating countries. It has been noticed time and again that ahigher degree of economic interactions with equal involvement of both sides goes a long way in reducing trust deficits, petty frictions and encourages constructive engagements, thereby stabilising border tensions that crop up so often. Noticeable successes that have been witnessed in the border haats functioning along Indo-Bangladesh border have given a new dimension to this concept that had even earned kudos from the World Bank. It has been studied that economic benefits do not necessarily remain limited to the traders engaged in the process alone, but rather percolates and acts as boosters in creation of a multifarious range of ancillary entrepreneurships that automatically become a part of this economic ecosystem. 

Pangsau Pass, if professionally managed can prove to be extremely beneficial not only for the people coming inside the immediate radius, but also for a large part of the Changlang district which has remained starved from the fruits of development due to various reasons, remoteness being a major one. For giving the much needed fillip to the local economic activities and generating sustainable means of livelihood which have somehow remained stagnated over the decades in these areas, this market can be a ray of hope.

A successful take-off that can be ensured with inputs from the currently active border haats can act as a benchmark for similar future proposals too. And being a proven welfare concept, it must always find a due place in the policy making process of the Centre as well as the State government.