NE bridge between sub-regions of Asia : Tharoor

SHILLONG, APR 9
Minister of State for External Affairs, Shashi Tharoor today said North East India was the bridge between two sub-regions of Asia - South Asia and South East Asia.
"Both regions are in the midst of tremendous positive change, spurred by economic growth and development," he said in key-note address on India's North East and BIMSTEC - A Restropect here in Meghalaya.
Tharoor was attending an international conference on "From Landlocked to Landlinked: NE India in BIMSTEC" at North Eastern Hill University wherein Ambassadors of Thailand, Myanmar and Bangladesh also attended the meet.
Admitting that the Centre have not been able to leverage the various opportunities in the North Eastern region, Tharoor said today's challenge was to harness these opportunities to ensure that growth and development passes by this region.
"We have to seize the geographical factor of Northeast India linking South Asia and Southeast Asia, but the role of BIMSTEC is attempting to play in truly linking this region not only to other parts of India but beyond India," he said.
He however said with the paradigm shift from a state-centred approach to one of interpendence and global and regional cooperation. "We have become all the more aware of the geo-economic potential of the North Eastern region and South East Asia," Tharoor said.
On India's Look East Policy, the Minister of State for External Affairs, said, India strongly supported the various initiatives taken to improve comprehensive physical connectivity between the countries in the region, such as the Trilateral Highway Project between India, Myanmar and Thailand, the Kaladan Multi Model Transit Transport facility and the probable rail link from Jiribam in Assam to Hanoi in Vietnam etc.
"From our perspective, the most critical link would be to create road connectivity from North-East of India through Myanmar into South East Asia," he said, adding that Thailand and India have completed construction of the link roads on either side, but some portions of these road connectivity in Myanmar remain to be completed.
He said the Centre would like to see BIMSTEC develop as a vibrant organization effectively making the NE Region the country's gateway to Southeast Asia.
Tharoor also said that economic co-operation between China and India can reduce tension between both neighbouring countries.
"Though a solution has not found yet to resolve the Indo-China border disputes, but the border continues to remain calm and tranquil," he told reporters here.
Stating that China was India's number one major trading partner with respect to manufactured goods, Tharoor said, "Chinese companies are opening branches here and Indian companies there. Our IT companies are opening branches in Shanghai. We have 7,000 students in China and there are regular pilgrimage to Kailash Mansarovar."
Asked on China's failure to recognised Arunachal Pradesh as an integral part of India, Tharoor said it was a "reflection of the unresolved dispute" between the two nations.
"We wanted the long-standing border dispute with China resolved peacefully and we held 13 rounds of talks, but so far there has been no solution to it," he said.
On the illegal migration of Bangladeshi nationals into India, Tharoor said the issue cannot be solved overnight, but stressed that India and Bangladesh must work together to contain this illegal migration.