New Delhi: External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar has said the partition of India in many ways broke the natural connectivity of the northeastern states and impacted the growth in the area due to political barriers as well as administrative issues. His address came during an event in Delhi University's Kirori Mal College on Monday on the topic 'Northeast India's Integration with South East Asia and Japan: Balancing Economic Ties and Ecological Conservation'.
Jaishankar noted that the consequence of the partition of India broke in many ways the natural connectivity that the Northeast had or would have enjoyed.
"As a result of that, the levels of growth that the Northeast should have seen was slowed down. In the first few decades after the partition, the Northeast did not enjoy the advantages which other parts of the country did because of political barriers and administrative issues," Jaishankar said while addressing the students.
The External Affairs Minister also added that the current economic stability in the Northeast is moving towards a stronger front. "What we are seeing now, honestly should have come much earlier if history had been kinder to us. As I always say, for India to look east, Delhi should first look east and see the Northeast. It is then the potential and the possibilities of the Northeast will be fully appreciated," he said.
Further, describing Northeast India as a big beneficiary of dramatic improvement in the India-Bangladesh ties, Jaishankar said that the first few decades after the partition of India stunted the growth of the region.
