PPA bats for opening up of border trade

Our Correspondent

Itagar, January  9: The People’s Party of Aruchal (PPA) today said that opening up of border trade with South East Asia through Aruchal Pradesh will not only boost the economy of the state but of the entire North Eastern states as well as the country.

"Border trade has the potential to initiate the process of economic opening up, enhancing local livelihoods and contributing importantly to cross border confidence building. For whatever reasons, whether security mindsets or fear of Chinese economic might and dumping, Indian border trade policies are thoroughly idequate to cope with the inevitable changes in the demand structure in the North East region and neighboring countries," party’s president Kahfa Bengia said while addressing a party meeting here.

"This is in sharp contrast with Chi, which has pushed ahead with road constructions into Vietm, Laos, Thailand and Myanmar and working on rail and waterways links as well. A range of studies on Chi indicate that provincial governments are effective actors on their tiol stage," he said.

"Just as the development of India’s North East frontier region is seen by many as intrinsically linked to the opening out of the region to engagement with neighboring countries, Chi during the end of 1990s faced with the similar situation with regard to the development of its relatively backward South Western region of Yunn Province, allowed this backward province an unusual degree of autonomy in foreign and commercial relations with neighboring countries through economic diplomacy with its provincial capital Kunming filly emerging as a prime stakeholder in forging of connectivity with South East and South Asian countries," Kahfa added.

He said, while the Indian and Chinese political systems are undeniably distinctive, the Chinese approach to the devolution of diplomatic and regiol development initiatives deserve serious scrutiny and understanding.

"The situation in respect of India’s similarly peripheral NE states is completely different the eight states of this border region enjoy no comparable role in relation to the countries that are on their intentiol borders," he said. "Can we say that the NE states have any ownership even in miniscule part, over New Delhi’s Look East policy such as Yunn Province has in relation to Chi’s Southern borders?" added Kahfa.

While lauding the state governor for stressing on institutiolization of the traditiol border trade practices of the state, PPA CWC Chairman Kamen Ringu said, "with the birth of NITI Aayog with promises of parity of rights to all the federal units in the country in policy framing at the Centre, the NE states should be substantively and meaningfully involved in the furtherance of Look East policy." "The NE states should be made active players in initiating linkages between the NE states and the neighboring countries in order to promote greater people to people exchanges. This step will go a long way to curtail dependency syndrome of the NE states on the Centre for grants," Ringu added.