AIR LINK PLAN TO MAKE NE TRADE HUB FOR ASEAN

IMPHAL: A set of new airports and heliports along sensitive international borders and revival of some British-era facilities are part of a major air connectivity plan towards making the Northeast India’s hub for trade with Southeast Asian countries.

Air, water and terrestrial link with Myanmar and beyond was the credo at the first North East Development Summit (NEDS) that President Ram Nath Kovind attended in Manipur capital Imphal on Tuesday. The summit also underlined a major worry – the challenges of linking Himalayan villages along the China border in Arunachal Pradesh.

“The second round of bidding for UDAN (Regional Connectivity Scheme) will be nothing short of spectacular. It will open up 92 air routes in NE and there will be 19 new airports and 17 heliports to carry the plan forward,” Jayant Sinha, minister of state for civil aviation, said at the summit.

One such airport is Rupsi in western Assam’s Dhubri that was strategic for Allied forces during World War 2 but was abandoned after independence. One of the new airports planned is at Moreh, a trade town on Manipur’s border with Myanmar that is also a stop on the 20,557 km Asian Highway 1 from Tokyo to Istanbul.

Manipur chief minister Nongthombam Biren, who hosted NEDS, said his government was working out a land policy to boost industry. The policy is expected to remove hurdles in acquiring space for infrastructure needed for various forms of transportation.

“Law and order in Manipur has improved tremendously, enabling us to ensure that investment in horticulture, agriculture and tourism is safe,” he said. His Assam counterpart Sarbananda Sonowal said the Act East Policy pursued by PM Modi was helping the region be a growth engine.