During his visit to Guwahati, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said that Assam and the rest of the Northeast should play a pivotal role in the country’s efforts to look east. The Northeast is central to New Delhi’s policy of building closer economic ties with its eastern neighbours. In recent years, the country has taken new initiatives to strengthen relations with Bangladesh and Myanmar. The Prime Minister, accompanied by Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi visited Bangladesh last year. Singh said that a number of issues of mutual benefit to the two countries were agreed upon during the trip to Dhaka. It is true, however, that the land-swap deal was vehemently opposed by several organisations in Assam. The Prime Minister also spoke of his scheduled visit to Myanmar next month. He will discuss with the Myanmarese leadership how opportunities can be increased to expand trade, develop economic cooperation and establish connectivity to the larger Asean region of Assam and other states in the Northeast. He welcomed the restoration of democracy in Myanmar which shared a border with Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur, Mizoram and Nagaland. India had come in for criticism because of its links with the previous junta government in the past. But now that is history.
Singh put stress on developing Assam’s infrastructure, educational services and transport facilities. He felt that connectivity would brighten the employment situation in the Northeast. He praised the rapid improvement in Assam’s human development indicators. All this must have cheered up the people of Assam. The Prime Minister, however, bypassed the cloud of insurgency over the state’s economic scenario. It is encouraging nevertheless that Paresh Barua’s bandh call and threat of subversive activities turned out to be a damp squib.