The Hindu : National : Project to link north-east and South-East Asia

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Monday, Oct 08, 2007
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Project to link north-east and South-East Asia

Sushanta Talukdar

Guwahati: External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee on Sunday said the Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited had started working on an optical fibre project to establish telecommunication network between India’s north-east region and south-east Asia.

Delivering the keynote address at a national conference on “India’s Look East Policy: Challenges for Sub-Regional Cooperation” here, Mr. Mukherjee said there was also a proposal to connect the north-east region with SAARC capitals.

This was the second conference organised by the Public Diplomacy Division of the Ministry on the Look East Policy in collaboration with the Omeo Kumar Das Institute of Social Change and Development and the Indian Council for Research on International Economic Relations (ICRIER).

Mr. Mukherjee said that “by gradually integrating this region through cross-border market access, north-eastern States can become the bridge between the Indian economy and the fastest growing and dynamic region in the world.”

“We are involved in the variety of cross-border development projects with Myanmar in diverse fields such as roads, railways, telecommunications, information technology, science and technology, power etc. These initiatives are aimed at improving connectivity between the north-eastern India and Western Myanmar and are expected to give an impetus to the local economies as well as bilateral trade. Probably among the most important is the Kaladan multi-modal transit transport facility, which envisages connectivity between Indian ports on the eastern seaboard and the Sittwe Port in Myanmar and then through riverine transport and by road to Mizoram, providing an alternative route for transport of goods to north-east India.”

Other frameworks

Mr. Mukherjee said that besides the India-ASEAN dialogue, there were other frameworks that formed the architecture of the Look East Policy and lent substance to India’s engagement with South-East Asia.

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