Foreign Minister S Jaishankar
– Photo: ANI
Expansion
External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said the partition of India broke the natural connectivity of the northeastern states in many ways. Political constraints as well as administrative issues affected the development of the region.
External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Monday addressed an event on ‘Integrating Northeast India with Southeast Asia and Japan, balancing economic ties and ecological conservation’ at Delhi University’s Kirori Mal College. During this, he said that the partition of India broke the natural connectivity of the North-Eastern states in many ways. Political constraints as well as administrative issues affected the development of the region.
The outcome of the partition of India in many ways broke the natural connectivity that the Northeast had or would have had. Pajay Shankar, while speaking to the students, said that the level of development which should have been seen in the North-East has slowed down. In the first few decades after partition, the Northeast did not get the benefits that other parts of the country did.
External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said, ‘The current economic stability in the North-East is moving towards a stronger front. What we are seeing now, honestly, should have come much earlier if history had been kind to us. As I always say, to see India towards the East, Delhi must first look towards the East and then towards the North-East. It is then the potential and possibilities of the North-East will be fully appreciated.