India News | Experts Seek Increased Investment in NE, Greater People Connect in South Asia
Get latest articles and stories on India at LatestLY. Experts sought higher investment in the North East and greater people connect to boost the economy of the region and of South Asia.
Guwahati, Sep 21 (PTI) Experts sought higher investment in the North East and greater people connect to boost the economy of the region and of South Asia.
Former Indian Ambassador to Afghanistan and Myanmar, Gautam Mukhopadhaya speaking at a seminar on India-Bangladesh relations with focus on North East, said more investment was needed in increasing productivity in the NE region rather than merely concentrating on improving connectivity, which had been the thrust area for boosting the economy of the region in recent years.
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“It is still a colonial economy here, based on extracting resources already available with very little value addition,” he said.
Mukhopadhaya said there were many unique products from the NE region. Which he felt should get the GI (Geographical Indicator) tag and efforts should be made to "package and market these under the NE brand".
He emphasised on a ‘bottom up' approach with focus of development of small farmers which could have a ripple up effect.
“We have been concentrating too much on connecting the region. We must now invest in increasing productivity as well. The policies must directly connect with the people,” the former diplomat said.
Speaking on similar lines, Sreeradha Datta, head of Neighbourhood Studies Centre, Vivekananda International Foundation said “there has been an incremental progress in development of South Asia as a region over the years but this has hardly touched the lives of the people.”
She maintained that "trickling down of facilities has been ridiculously low" and the ‘top down' approach for development has been detrimental.
Datta, whose research interests include India's foreign policy, regional polity and cross-border issues, also said South Asian countries have been the ‘least organised' as a region, globally.
Though much optimism is aired that South Asia is a booming market and regional cooperation will fast-track the economy, it has not translated "much on ground", she argued.
“India has individually done very well but not as a sub-grouping member,” she said, adding that when national interests drives inter-country relations, it could lead to skewed growth.
Datta also highlighted the need to keep business away from politics as far as possible, pointing how India is a major business partner with China, notwithstanding political skirmishes between the two neighbours.
Shamsher M Chowdhury, former Bangladesh foreign secretary who joined the seminar through the virtual mode, also maintained that power dynamics between countries should not impact overall development of the region.
Speaking on the importance of seamless connectivity, he said improved transport connection between India and Bangladesh should be such that both countries can derive its benefits while linking with other countries too.
“Connectivity ensures shared economic benefits. It also ensures people to people connect which is extremely important for accelerated development,” the former Bangladesh Ambassador to Germany, Vietnam, Russia and United States added.
(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)