NEW DELHI: An India that is more connected to the Northeast will mean a complete transformation of the regional economy, External Affairs Minister, Dr S. Jaishankar, said on Saturday while addressing the National Allies in Development and Interdependence (NADI) Asian Confluence River Conclave in Guwahati. “Today too, our national resurgence is directly connected to the economic revival of the East. The coming together therefore of the Act East and the Neighbourhood First policies have an enormous reinforcing impact,’’ he said.
He also spoke about improving connectivity between the Northeast and Bangladesh, through the restoration of six cross-border rail links that have been dormant since 1965. “Once operational, the Shahabazpur (Bangladesh) to Mahishasan (Assam) link will be extended within Bangladesh and connected to the Kuluara-Shahbazpur rail line currently being modernised using an Indian line of credit (LoC),” he said, adding that the Chilahati-Haldibari (West Bengal) line, inaugurated in 2020, will further enhance Assam’s connectivity to Bangladesh, including passenger traffic, through New Jalpaiguri. The conclave was also attended by Bangladeshi Foreign Minister Dr AK Abdul Momen.
The external affairs minister emphasised that if there is land connectivity through Myanmar and sea connectivity through Bangladesh, it would open a wide frontier of trade right up to Vietnam and Phillipines. “On a commercial scale, a world all the way to Vietnam and Philippines, from Haiphong to Hazira and from Manila to Mundra will open up, creating an east-west lateral with sweeping consequences for the continent. It will not only build on the partnerships that we have with the ASEAN and Japan, but would actually make a difference to the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework that is now in the making,’’ he added.