India, Japan See Assam As Hub to Link SE Asia: Jaishankar

New Delhi: Indian foreign minister S Jaishankar on Monday said it was essential for the future of Asia to build connectivity from the Arabian Sea to the South China Sea and added that this seamless connectivity would be possible only by making Indian state of Assam the “meeting point” of such efforts.

Speaking at an event in Guwahati on the theme of India’s Act East Policy and India-Japan Cooperation, Jaishankar noted that Assam had played a role in linking India to Korea and Japan in the past. In his speech, the minister sketched out initiatives undertaken by the Narendra Modi government in recent times to link the state to Myanmar, Bangladesh and Bhutan besides Vietnam and Japan by land, air and sea routes. These included a new 20 kilometre bridge across the Brahmaputra river being built with Japanese help, an inland waterway project linking Assam with Bhutan and Bangladesh, a power grid that transports electricity to and from India’s neighbours to Bihar through Assam and the trilateral highway connecting India, Myanmar and Thailand that could be extended to Laos and Vietnam.

The minister also spoke of India’s collaboration with Japan in its efforts to build infrastructure and modernize its economy – the Delhi-Mumbai Industrial Corridor and the Dedicated Freight Corridor being two examples besides Japan’s development assistance which Jaishankar said had financed many road, rail, urbanization and energy projects in India.

“The current (India-Japan) agenda includes industrial townships, training institutes, language centres and financial facilities,” Jaishankar said adding that India-Japan ties have now acquired a strongly strategic dimension. This was due to the two countries being democracies, valuing pluralism, that they were open societies with a shared commitment to “peaceful, open, stable and rules based order” in the Indo-Pacific region and beyond, the minister said.

Within a decade, “the India-Japan partnership is today seen in Asia perhaps seen as the most natural and close,” Jaishankar said underlining the special nature of relations between New Delhi and Tokyo that has seen India invite Japan to help it develop its sensitive northeast which has seen multiple separatist insurgencies. The minister noted that the first Act East Forum – under which India and Japan collaborate to develop India’s northeast – had its first meeting in 2017.

Assam, Jaishankar said had been long viewed as the “fulcrum” of the northeastern region but with India expanding ties with Myanmar, Bangladesh and Bhutan, the state had the potential to become hub linking India’s neighbours as well. India was coordinating with Japanese projects undertaken in Myanmar, Bhutan and Bangladesh, the minister said, which in turn would give power and connectivity projects in northeastern India including Assam, a boost.

Among the projects that would transform Assam and the northeast being undertaken with Japanese help including a 20 kilometre bridge across he Brahmaputra river, the minister said. Japan was providing ₹1600 crores as loan for this project whose total cost was rs 6,000 crores and which was expected to be completed by 2028.

Besides this, 11 airports in the region were to be modernized of which six were in Assam. This would play a major role in turning Assam into a transportation hub attracting tourist and traffic flows from countries like Singapore, Myanmar and Thailand, Jaishankar said. Under the Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC) initiative that brings together countries in South and Southeast Asia, there were 264 projects that were being undertaken with “direct relevance” to Assam, Jaishankar said. In Assam itself, Japan was involved in a drinking water and sewerage network system in state capital Guwahati, the minister said.

“When it comes to the future of Asia… it is essential today that we build a connectivity all the way from the Arabian Sea to he South China Sea. And that will be possible only by making Assam a meeting point of this connectivity,” Jaishankar said.

In his remarks, Japanese ambassador to India, Satoshi Suzuki, said “for India to achieve the 5 -trillion-dollar economy, the development of North East is indispensable.”

“Japan always takes a panoramic perspective in its diplomacy. The vision for a free, open and inclusive Indo-Pacific (FOIP) is at its center; and India’s North East, including Assam, occupies an important place in this vision,” the ambassador said.

“For India, which faces certain restrictions in the western border outlet, enhancing connectivity across its eastern border is critical. Connecting India with Southeast Asia and to the Bay of Bengal does make sense both economically and strategically. North East is situated where India’s Act East Policy and Japan’s vision for a free and open Indo-Pacific converge. To be ‘free and open’ is critical here in Assam. That is why Japan is supporting various connectivity projects in this state,” he said.

Referring to the bridge across the Brahmaputra also known as the Dhubri-Phulbari bridge, Suzuki said this would “dramatically shorten the travel time across the magnificent Brahmaputra river from more than 8 hours to less than 30 minutes.”

“In total, these projects will improve the connectivity from Bhutan through Assam and Meghalaya to Bangladesh, magnifying the flow of people and goods and demonstrating the spirit of a free and open Indo-Pacific,” Suzuki said. By improving land connectivity, India’s northeast will also enjoy access to the sea, as “they will be better connected to Chittagong or Matabari in Bangladesh, providing outlets to the Bay of Bengal. Assam and North East will no longer be a landlocked region,” he added.

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Source: LIveMint

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