Unlocking the landlocked Northeast

A Staff Reporter DIMAPUR, JANUARY 19 Chief Minister TR Zeliang on Tuesday evening challenged the “important thinkers and planners of development strategy”, attending the workshop on “India-Japan partnership towards meeting the challenge of infrastructure development in India’s Northeast” here in Dimapur, to decode the key to unlock the “landlocked Northeast” and help put an end to its geographical isolation. Addressing the delegates at the inaugural session of the two-day workshop, Zeliang said that the “gaps are indeed vast and numerous” when it comes to the need for infrastructural development of the Northeast. “However, in my mind, there is no doubt that the first priority should be construction of highways and railways within the region, and connecting it with mainland India and the neighboring countries, so that the geographical isolation of the region becomes a thing of the past.” He went on to say that this is also the precise aim of India’s Act East Policy. “In this connection, I have always advocated in various fora, that the most practicable and convenient road and rail connections between India and South East Asian countries should run through Nagaland to Moreh border town via Imphal.” After road connectivity, according to Zeliang, the next in the list of “most important infrastructural gap of this region” is power/electricity, both in terms of adequate availability and its efficient transmission and distribution system. “The present power infrastructure, especially the transmission and distribution system is far from satisfactory.” In a message directed to the Japanese delegates – who were led by Akio Isomata, Minister, Embassy of Japan in India – Zeliang shared that “till now as far as Nagaland is concerned”, Japan is better known for its role during the Second World War, in which the most famous and decisive battle was fought at Kohima. “That is why, we have here the well known Kohima War Cemetery, created and maintained by the British Commonwealth War Graves Commission, in memory of the fallen soldiers of the Allied Forces. However, except for the Cathedral at Kohima which was funded by the Japanese war veterans in memory of the war, there is no other war memorial for the Japanese soldiers who lost their lives in the battle of Kohima.” Yet this could all be changed now, according to Zeliang. “Through its role in the infrastructural development in India’s North East as part of India-Japan strategic partnership, Japan is going to create a new image and memorial for itself in this region. “Let us hope that with the successful implementation of the infrastructural projects in this region, the name of Japan will no more be associated with war, but with peace and development in the minds of the new generation of this region,” he shared. The Chief Minister also expressed that even as New Delhi “seems to be keen” on fencing all our international borders, the same approach is not a viable proposition here. “Especially in the Nagaland sector, the international boundary does not follow a river or other convenient landmarks. It rather follows the water-shed principle. Since Nagas and other North East tribals have been generally building their villages on the hill-tops, the international boundary divides many villages into two halves.” Another peculiar character of this sector is that in spite of the open and unguarded border, and in spite of the free-movement regime, there has been practically no migration of the native Nagas across the international border, Zeliang pointed out. “This is basically because of the strong attachment the Nagas have for their ancestral land, and because of their traditional land-holding system. I am stressing on this point as I want the policy makers and planners to clearly understand this peculiar nature of the Nagaland sector of the Indo-Myammar border.” Akio Isomata, Minister, Embassy of Japan in India, in his brief address, outlined the conditions that their ventures into India Northeast region hope to achieve. He shared that the connectivity enhancement in the region must also “enhance the quality of life” among the local people and “should promote business in the region.” While expressing confidence on Japanese technology to overcome the “geographical and physical difficulties of the region”, Isomata said that the most important aspect was to address the “security concerns.” The workshop is a joint initiative of the government of Nagaland, Indian Council for Research on International Economic Relations and India Foundation. The delegates are scheduled to confer across four sessions tomorrow, followed by a round table session.