NE will be India’s development engine: PM

New Delhi: Extending greetings on the 36th statehood day of Arunachal Pradesh on Sunday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said northeast India will become the country’s development engine in the 21st century.

In a video message, he said: “I firmly believe that eastern India, especially the northeast, will become the development engine of the country in the 21st century. Significant work has been done in the past seven years to speed up development of Arunachal Pradesh.

The work done in areas of connectivity and infrastructure is making trade and life easy in the state.” He said that connecting Itanagar and other capitals of the northeastern states via rail has been the priority of the government. “We are using our full potential to make Arunachal Pradesh a major gateway of East Asia,” he said. He said that modern infrastructure was being set up keeping in mind the role of Arunachal Pradesh in national security. “We are continuously moving forward in Arunachal by harmonising progress, nature, environment and culture.

With your efforts, the state is one of the major biodiversity areas of the country today,” he said. Modi also assured people of the state that the “double engine” governments will leave no stone unturned to ensure holistic development of Arunachal Pradesh. He said the government was making attempts to take the tourism potential of Arunachal to the whole world. He recited a few lines from the ‘Arunachal Hamara’ song by Bhupen Hazarika. Arunachal Pradesh became a full-fledged state and the 25th state on February 20, 1987