PM Modi addresses meeting of North Eastern Council in Shillong

Prime Minister Narendra Modi addressed the meeting of North Eastern Council (NEC) in Shillong earlier today. The meeting marks the golden jubilee celebration of the North Eastern Council, which was formally inaugurated in 1972.

Hailing the contribution of NEC in the development of the North East region, Prime Minister said that this golden jubilee celebration of the NEC coincides with the ongoing Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav. Underscoring that he often refers to the 8 states of the region as Asht Lakshmi, he said the government should work on 8 foundation pillars for its development, viz. Peace, Power, Tourism, 5G connectivity, Culture, Natural farming, Sports, Potential.

Prime Minister said that the Northeast is our gateway to South -East Asia and can become a centre for development of the entire region. And to realise this potential of the region, work is going on the projects like Indian-Myanmar-Thailand trilateral highway and Agartala-Akhaura rail project. Prime Minister highlighted that the government has gone beyond the conversion of the ‘Look East’ policy to ‘Act East’, and now its policy is ‘Act Fast for Northeast’ and ‘Act First for Northeast.’

Highlighting the success of peace initiatives in the region, he said that many peace agreements have been signed, inter-state boundary agreements have been done and there has been a marked reduction in instances of extremism.