Meet Highlights Potential of Northeast

The Governor called for opportunities to link South East Asia and India under a common framework of FTA.

Kolkata, Apr 13 : A two-day international seminar on ‘From Land-locked to Land-linked Northeast India in BIMSTEC' (Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation) was inaugurated at the North Eastern Hill University (NEHU) Campus in Shillong, Meghalaya, on Friday. Organized by the Jadavpur Association of International Relations (JAIR) in collaboration with the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), the seminar is being supported by The Public Diplomacy Division, Ministry of External Affairs.

Delivering the keynote address, Dr Sashi Tharoor, Minister of State for External Affairs, opined that sensitization of various issues affecting better linkages of North-East with broader canvass of South East Asia was needed for faster development. The strategic location of the land-locked North East made it the doorway to South East and East Asia and vice versa, a doorway for these economies into India, he said.

Vision 2020

Referring to the path-breaking North Eastern Region Vision 2020 envisaged by the Prime Minister, Dr Manmohan Singh, in July 2008, Dr Tharoor explained the various packages, which contained important infrastructure and power projects. He mentioned that a Free Trade Agreement (FTA) within the BIMSTEC framework was currently under discussion while a BIMSTEC Energy Centre and a Weather and Climate Centre had also been proposed to be established in India. India has also offered 330 annual training slots to BIMSTEC countries under the Technical Economic Co-operation Programme.

According to Dr Tharoor, the most critical link would be to create road connectivity from the Northeast India through Myanmar into South East Asia. In this connection, the Trilateral Highway Project between India, Myanmar and Thailand is under construction. Efforts were underway to improve infrastructure, at the second India – Myanmar border trade point at Phi-Zowkhathar in Mizoram sector by up gradation of the Rhi-Tidim and Rhi- Falam road segments in Myanmar.

Besides road links, efforts of developing rail link from Jiribam in Assam to Hanoi in Vietnam passing through Myanmar is also under way. Digital connectivity is another area where work is being carried on particularly through optical fiber cable link between Moreh in Manipur and Mandalay in Myanmar.

Vast diversity

In his Inaugural address, Mr Ranjit Shekhar Mooshahary, Governor of Meghalaya, alluded to the vast richness of this part of India. He mentioned that though the North Eastern States together occupies about 8 per cent of the country's geographical area where only 3 per cent of the country's population resides, yet it is this region which shares international borders with five neighboring nations and houses about 200 ethnic groups, languages and dialects. He also opined that the Look East Policy taken by the Government of India in 1992 has been a very significant step breaking the erstwhile parasitic mindset of the custom of subsidies.

He also called for further opportunities to link South East Asia and India under a common framework of FTA and if possible by a common currency system alike the European Union.

Mr Dipankar Chatterji, Chairman, CII, North – East Council; Prof Radharaman Chakrabarti, All India President, Jadavpur Association of International Relations; Mr Navdeep S. Suri, Joint Secretary, Ministry of External Affairs; Mr Krit Kraichiti, Ambassador of Thailand to India; Mr Tariq Ahmad Karim, High Commissioner of Bangladesh; Mr U Kyi Thein, Ambassador of Myanmar also addressed the seminar.