Foreign ministry to facilitate northeastern states to tap overseas investment in region

New Delhi:
In a first of its kind, an interaction of Resident Commissioners of North Eastern Region with Minister of State for External Affairs Dr Rajkumar Ranjan Singh was held in Delhi on Friday, September 10.

The deliberations dwelt at length on how the Ministry of External Affairs can facilitate their international engagement. 

"This is especially significant in the context of realizing the vision of Prime Minister Narendra Modi articulated during his address to the Nation on August 6, 2021, an MEA release said.

The meeting was attended by Residential Commissioners and Nodal Officers from eight North Eastern States - Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Tripura Nagaland and Sikkim.

In his welcome remarks C.Rajasekhar, OSD (States) reiterated MEA’s focus on the North Eastern Region as it holds the key to the security and prosperity of the nation. He recalled the Prime Minister's exhortation of the States to prepare  an Action plan to boost exports in their respective states .

MoS External Affairs, Dr Rajkumar Ranjan Singh, in his address urged the states in the North East region to proactively harness the goodwill for India around the world in promoting export and attracting foreign investment \into the region. 

The government has set a target of 400 Billion dollar export per annum.

Secretary (Eastern Region) in MEA, Dammu Ravi summed up the productive deliberations and guided the meeting on the next steps. 

These include a North East Round Table to be launched for the first time in Manipur capital later this year. 

Senior officers from the Government of India and the MEA also enriched the session with their insightful contributions, the release said. 

The States Division in MEA has been created specially at the behest and directives of the Prime Minister so as to facilitate the international outreach efforts of all States and Union Territories.

Recently, Naga mirchi (chilli) were exported to London. Similarly, all northeastern states have theirunique and specialised potentials. While states such as Tripura have immense scope to do tradingwith bamboo products, Sikkim is the country's organic state.

Sources said, the government of India's Act East Policy focuses on the extended neighbourhood in the Asia-Pacific region. 

The policy, which was originally conceived as an economic initiative, has gained political, strategic and cultural dimensions including establishment of institutional mechanisms for dialogue and cooperation. 

India has upgraded its relations to strategic partnership with Indonesia, Vietnam, Malaysia, Japan, Korea, Australia, Singapore and Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).

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