GUWAHATI: Congress MP and chairman of the parliamentary standing committee on external affairs, Shashi Tharoor has underlined the need to broaden the ambit of foreign policy to make it more people-centric while advocating that Northeast states should have good relations with the South East Asian countries for development.
“It is important that we implement the long talked about projects that would give us road, river and air connectivity from Assam to the other Northeast states down to Myanmar and into Thailand, Malaysia and Vietnam. It is not too difficult, all that we need is will, hard work and money,” Tharoor said while delivering a lecture on ‘New India: Blueprint for the Progressive Indian’, here on Sunday afternoon.
Pointing out that foreign policy should not be confined to embassies alone, the articulate former diplomat said he had advocated the Look East Policy when he was a minister and had even spoken on it during a lecture in Shillong.
“Foreign policy is too important to be left to embassies alone. We have to take it to the people. That was the message I tried to convey through my speeches,” Tharoor said.
To a question on how he visualized the “new Northeast, the Congress MP from Thiruvananthapuram said he was a big fan of the region.
“I was talking to Meghalaya chief minister, Conrad Sangma this afternoon, who despite being on the ‘wrong side’ as I told him, is a good friend and a former fellow MP in Parliament. He was telling me that it would be good if we could open consulates of these neighbouring countries in the Northeast states. Imagine a consulate of Myanmar in Imphal, a consulate of Bangladesh in Guwahati or a consulate of Nepal in Shillong,” Tharoor said.
He further felt the need to think right and open up spaces to strengthen Northeast’s and India’s ties with Southeast Asia.
“It would be good if Northeast is given a chance to develop links with the neighbouring countries. I am not worried as I celebrate diversity but some in the Hindutva brigade might be worried as it would make Northeast more connected to the other countries than the Hindi heartland,” Tharoor said, taking a dig at what he perceives as the state of affairs under the NDA dispensation.
When I campaigned in Meghalaya before the elections, I was absolutely delighted to see political rallies featuring young boy bands strumming the guitar on stage. You don’t see that in Kerala and certainly not in Haryana. But I am thrilled as an Indian to see the kind of life in parts of the country and would love to see more,” he said.