India wants B'desh investment in Northeast
Tue, Dec 8th, 2009 7:15 pm BdST
bdnews24.com New Delhi Correspondent
New Delhi, Dec 8 (bdnews24.com) Senior leader of India's ruling Congress Manishankar Aiyar has come out strongly in support of opening up of the country's northeastern region for investments from Bangladesh.
"While our government has made it incumbent to channel ten percent of our funds to Northeast, the private sector has not routed one percent of its investments there," said Aiyar, a former union minister of India.
He was speaking at the Nehru Memorial Museum and Library in New Delhi after launching eminent BBC journalist Subir Bhaumik's book "Troubled Periphery: Crisis of India's Northeast".
"So it makes sense to allow Bangladesh's big capital to invest in Northeast and giving them market access for their products," said Aiyar, adding: "That will allow us to fulfill the dreams of 1971, by creating a friendly Bangladesh to secure east and northeast India."
Aiyar, himself a former Indian Foreign Service (IFS) officer, said that Indian diplomacy has failed to advance India's 'cause' in the neighbourhood, including Bangladesh.
"But now we have great opportunity. There's a very friendly government in Dhaka and they are helping us handle the insurgents. I think we should carry forward our relations to new heights," he added.
Aiyar, who has been a close associate of India's late and former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi, held the Panchayati Raj and Development of Northeastern Region portfolio in the country's central government till the parliamentary elections in April-May this year.
Veteran Indian editor B G Verghese, who conducted the discussion during the book launch, advised Indian decision makers "to see borders as bridges rather than as barriers." "Borders are what you make of them," he added.
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