Indian governors, minister stress better connectivity with Bangladesh

A top level meeting on “Act East Policy” policy between Governors of India’s Northeastern states and Union Minister for External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj has underlined the need for better connectivity with Bangladesh for an overall development of the region.

The meeting that took place at Jawaharlal Nehru Bhawan in New Delhi on Tuesday evening, sources said, discussed better railway, road and water connectivity between India with Bangladesh.
 
“The briefing covered various cross-border connectivity projects that are under implementation or discussion, which would link the North East to the wider region including Myanmar, Bangladesh, Thailand and even Cambodia, Lao PDR and Vietnam,” sources said.
 
Issues of border trade and integrating the North East into regional production and value chains were also discussed, as were steps for enhancing capacity building and facilitating greater cultural and people-to-people exchanges.
 
The meeting was a follow up to a specific recommendation emanating from the Conference of Governors chaired by President Pranab Mukherjee in February this year.

It was attended by JP Rajkhowa, Governor of Arunachal Pradesh, Padmanabha Balakrishna Acharya, Governor of Assam and Nagaland, V Shanmuganam, Governor of Manipur and Meghalaya, Lt Gen Nirbhay Sharma, Governor of Mizoram and Shrinivas Patil, Governor of Sikkim.
 
Secretary (East) and senior officers of the Ministry of External Affairs also participated in the briefing, which comprehensively covered all aspects of India's Act East Policy, with particular focus on how these impacted on the North Eastern region.
 
“The North East is a natural partner in India's Act East Policy, being our land bridge to ASEAN, and the Act East Policy is a means to strengthen the stability, economy and prospects of our North Eastern region,” Swaraj told in the meeting.