Nagaland CM for adopting Look East Policy on N.East

New Delhi, Dec 9 (UNI) Nagaland Chief Minister Neiphiu Rio today pleaded for development and opening of trade with South East Asian countries not only to boost the trade and economy but also to remove the sense of isolation and neglect felt so long by the people of North East Region.

''In this connection, the "Look East Policy" of the Government of India needs to be better defined and crystallised in to specific action programmes, so that it does not remain a mere policy statement or an attractive slogan,'' he said in his address at the 52nd Meeting of the National Development Council here.

The Chief Minister said this would require restructuring of the various policy of the country,including its foreign policy. ''As a component of this Look East Policy and to facilitate trade and cultural exchanges the learning of Mandarin, Japanese, Korean and other oriental languages should be encouraged and facilities created for the purpose,'' he said.

''Under the Look East Policy, a new thrust needed to be given to the promotion of border trade. The N.E.Region could become an effective cultural and economic bridge between India and S.E.Asia,'' he said, noting that to achieve this objective, infrastructure development must be stepped up.

In this connection, Mr Rio suggested construction of a Highway along the Indo-Myanmar border which will not only open up the area for trade and economic development but also serve for patrolling international border and for checking of illegal trafficking of drugs and arms through the famous Golden Triangle.

Large sums of money had been invested in constructing roads and fencing along the Indo-Bangladesh border, but surprisingly, no tangible investments had been made along the strategic Indo-Myanmar border, which was equally important, he said.

The Chief Minister suggested youth empowerment through training and capacity building to enable them to find gainful employment either in the organised sector or as self employed enterpreneurs. He also stressed the need for promoting youth activities in art, culture, music and sports and said these could help wean away the youth from insurgency and other destrecctive tendencies.

Marketing of the North East as a common tourist destination and attrative tourist circuits to suit varuious pockets and launching of a Bamboo Mission for the North East were also among the suggestions made by him.

UNI YS VD BD1717