news Item-Stilwell Road opening initiatives.

State for reopening of Stilwell Road

 

The Government of Assam today made a strong plea for reopening of the Stilwell Road and said there is a need to push for a Northeast-Kunming Trade Corridor. Inaugurating a national dialogue titled “Guwahati Initiative: Northeast as the centre of a regional universe”, State Power, Industry and Commerce Minister Pradyut Bordoloi said that during the visit of Dr Manmohan Singh to China, stress was laid on the Kolkata-Kunming Economic Corridor, which is a little disappointing for the people of the North East as the entire exercise bypassed the region.The dialogue was jointly organized by the Institute of Peace and Conflict Studies (IPCS), New Delhi and the Centre for Development and Peace Studies (CDPS), Guwahati.

Bordoloi called for reopening of the Stilwell Road, allaying fears of an economic aggression by China. “It is an almost despicable and laughable argument that if the Stilwell Road is opened, the Chinese will swamp the markets with their cheap goods. That the road will bring in AIDS, narco-terrorism and AK 47s for our rebel outfits, as if such things are prevented by not opening the road,” he said, adding that development is a pre-condition for peace.Presenting his inputs, Jishnu Baruah, Principal Secretary to the Chief Minister, Assam, said, “India may exploit the existing civilization and spiritual ties with Myanmar by greater and closer people-to-people contact as well as strengthening of cultural bonds.” He stressed the need to hasten the connectivity between the Northeast and the neighbourhood to break the impasse and get of rid the isolation of the region.MP Bezbaruah, Member, North Eastern Council (NEC), said there is need for stakeholders from the Northeast to be part of the decision-making process on the Look East Policy. Suggesting three transit circuits – Northeast Circuit, a Combined Circuit with Myanmar and then a Southeast Asian Circuit – he said that tourism can turn around the economy.

RS Joshi, Chiarman, Federation of Industry and Commerce of the North Eastern Region (FINER) said, “We need to be comfortable domestically, then only we can think of cross-border trade. There is a need for a Northeast Banking Policy on the lines of the Northeast Investment Promotion Policy (NEIPP 2007). The Foreign Direct Investment Policy (FDI) needs to be made attractive by introducing extra concession on taxes for the NE region,” he added.

[Source: Assam Tribune,13^th November 2013]