GUWAHATI, Feb 5: Arunachal Pradesh is making tremendous progress in improving air, rail, digital and road connectivity, said Chief Minister Pema Khandu while attending the 2nd ASEAN-India Youth Summit here in Assam on Tuesday.
He said that, earlier, Arunachal used to have the lowest density of roads in the country but now, “under the leadership of PM Narendra Modi,” roads are reaching remote corners of the state through different central schemes, such as the PMGSY.
On air connectivity, the CM said “all seven advanced landing grounds (ALG) built in the state during the 1960s have been rebuilt and operationalized. Once the airport in Itanagar comes up, the ALGs, along with one civilian airport in Tezu, will be put to use to start air connectivity services within the state using fixed-wing aircraft.”
He said that, since there is less aerial distance between the ASEAN region and the Northeast, air service from at least six airports across the Northeast could be connected with ASEAN countries.
Speaking on the cultural diversity and geographical vastness of Arunachal, Pema said the entire Northeast region is often mistaken as one cultural entity “but even a single state like Arunachal has more than 26 tribes and 100 sub-tribes.”
The CM suggested that the ASEAN-India Youth Summit should be held as a calendar event, and in different locations across the Northeast. He also urged youths from the ASEAN countries to visit different parts of the Northeast to know the region better.
The CM also spoke on Arunachal’s enormous potential in the tourism, hydropower, agriculture, horticulture, and other sectors. “The state has vast land resources which are yet to be exploited to their full extent,” he said.
Pema later took part in an interactive session on the topic, ‘Northeast as India’s gateway to ASEAN’.
The summit is organized by the India Foundation and the external affairs ministry. (CMO)