Addressing the meeting of North Eastern Council (NEC), the Prime Minister said that Northeast is our gateway to Southeast Asia, reports Swati Luthra for Mint. “It can become a centre for development of the entire region. To realise this potential, work is underway on projects like India-Myanmar-Thailand trilateral highway and Agartala-Akhaura rail project.”
He added that the government has gone beyond the conversion of the Look East policy to Act East. “Now its policy is Act for Northeast and Act first for Northeast. Many peace agreements are signed, inter-state boundary agreements are done and there is a marked reduction in instances of extremism.”
The Prime Minister added that both culture and nature of the region attract tourists from across the world. “Tourism circuits are being identified and developed in the region also. We should send students from 100 universities to Northeast. It will help bring people of different regions closer. These students can then become ambassadors of the region.”
He said that iconic bridge projects which were pending since several decades are now complete. “In last 8 years, number of airports in the region has jumped from 9 to 16, and the number of flights has increased from about 900 before 2014 to around 1900. Many North eastern states have come to Railway map for the first time and efforts are being done to expand the waterways also. The length of national highways has increased by 50% since 2014 in the region.” (Source: Mint)