India's Act East Policy Aims to Link Northeast India with Southeast Asia

Union Minister of State for External Affairs Rajkumar Ranjan Singh on Friday said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi's vision is to link all the states of North East India with South East Asia and the Act East Policy is the main point of the bilateral relationship with these key countries.

Indias foreign policy under Prime Minister Modi is focused on bringing the whole world under one family, Singh said at the inaugural session of the three-day North East India Festival NEIF here in Vietnam. The G20 motto has been one earth-one family and one future which is the philosophy and wisdom of India as a nation. Based on this as our foreign policy we try to improve the relationships with countries all over the globe, particularly in the Indo-Pacific and South East Asia, he said.

Act East Policy

Singh said the prime minister was committed to improving, creating and strengthening more multilateral and bilateral relations. The Act East policy is the main point of our relationship with the South East Asian countries and it is the Prime Ministers vision to link all the states of North East India with this region, he said.

There are more than 250 communities in the North East and most of them have similarities with Southeast Asian communities in terms of culture, music, and folklore among other commonalities. Taking advantage of these commonalities and the historic links of Buddhism and Hinduism, under the leadership of the Prime Minister we have used and revitalised all these foundations for the Northeastern states, Singh said.

North East India Festival

He said the North East India Festival, which is the third in the series, will expose the region to South East Asia and create a platform for taking the potential of the region to South East Asia and vice versa. South East Asia is composed of 11 countries: Brunei, Myanmar, Cambodia, Timor-Leste, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.

The Indian embassy in Vietnam has focussed on tourism, trade promotion and the relationship between people. The Prime Minister has focussed on North East India and promoted it as the growth engine of the country and as the Gateway to SouthEast Asia and as such through these initiatives, infrastructure development has been speeded up which will help in improving the connectivity between the two regions, the minister said.

One District-One Product

Singh said another area of commonality between India and Vietnam is that Modi has promoted one district-one product while Vietnam also has a similar one province-one product and in this festival, North East India can showcase their products, particularly handloom, crafts, bamboo products, art and culture for the promotion of ties between the two nations.

The inaugural programme was also attended by Vietnam's Director General of the Department of External Relations in Ho Chi Minh City, Ministry of Foreign Affairs Tran Phuoc Anh and Vice Chairman of the People’s Committee of Ninh Thuan Province Nguyen Long Bien along with representatives of 15 provinces. Indian ambassador in Vietnam Sandeep Arya and Consul General in Ho Chi Minh City Mohit Chand Sethi were also present on the occasion.

The festivals programme includes an investment and trade session, a tourism B2B meet, and a people-to-people exchange meet, with the aim of nurturing academic exchange, promoting educational programmes, and enhancing cultural understanding between India and Vietnam, festivals chief organiser Shyamkanu Mahanta said. The investment and trade session will facilitate interactions between the DoNER Ministry, Invest India, and the investor community of Vietnam, paving the way for long-term business relationships, he added.

The North East India Festival is a significant platform for promoting the region's potential to South East Asia and vice versa. The festival will also provide a boost to tourism, trade, and cultural exchange between India and Vietnam.