Northeast becoming logistics, cultural gateway to Southeast Asia: Sonowal

New Delhi, Dec 4 (PTI) The Northeastern region is becoming a logistics and cultural gateway to Southeast Asia, through integrated check posts, border infrastructure and multi-modal connectivity linking waterways, highways and rail, Union Minister Sarbananda Sonowal said on Thursday.

Sonowal, union minister of ports, shipping and waterways, said under the visionary leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the Northeast has witnessed a historic reversal of decades of neglect -- from rail connectivity reaching state capitals to world-class highways, airports and waterways.

He said the region has emerged as a new engine driving India's growth.

"Under the Act East Policy, the Northeast is becoming a logistics and cultural gateway to Southeast Asia, through integrated check posts, border infrastructure and multimodal connectivity linking waterways, highways and rail," he said at a press conference here.

The minister said the story of the Northeast now is the story of a resurgent India and the transformation carries the signature of Prime Minister Modi - a leader who placed faith, focus and future in the hands of the people of the Northeast.

"The Northeast suffered seven decades of under-representation and under-investment. Under PM Modi, the region is recognised as the 'Ashtalakshmi' of India - not just a border region but a new engine of national growth," he said.

Sonowal said connectivity has been the cornerstone of the Prime Minister's roadmap and all major gauge conversion work in the region has been completed, with Arunachal Pradesh, Tripura, Manipur and Mizoram connected to the broad gauge network and goods and passenger trains reaching the region’s interiors for the first time.

He said the Bogibeel rail-cum-road bridge, completed in 2018, and the commissioning of the Bhairabi-Sairang link in June this year have expanded access across Assam and Mizoram.

Four capital connectivity rail projects - Nagaland, Manipur, Sikkim and Meghalaya - are underway, while the India-Bangladesh Agartala-Akhaura rail link was inaugurated jointly by the prime ministers of both nations in November 2023, he said.

The Union minister said upgradation of more than 11,000 kms of national and strategic highways have been taken up in the last decade while the air connectivity has undergone "a revolution".

From nine airports in 2014, the Northeast now has 19 operational airports, he said, adding greenfield airports at Pakyong and Hollongi, along with the upgraded Tezu, Rupsi and Agartala terminals, were operationalised under the UDAN scheme.

Sonowal said a network of heliports and water aerodromes has been added to extend links to remote districts.

By giving credit to the prime minister for all these development works in the Nortrheast, he said Modi has emerged as "the grand architect of a new and resurgent Northeast", transforming a region once neglected for decades into a major driver of India's growth, connectivity and national pride. PTI ACB NB