Union Minister Kiren Rijijua Lok Sabha congressman from Arunachal PradeshPrime Minister Narendra Modi said a two-pronged approach to development and dialogue with insurgent groups to deal with various challenges in the region has worked.
A “colorful, beautiful and peaceful” Northeast awaits people across the country, calling for investment and tourism in the region, he said at a press conference.
He alleged that Congress had left the region “devastated” and added that Prime Minister Modi has the big heart that the region needs.
People in the region want the government to reach out to them, which has happened under him, the minister said.
Modi’s vision of lifting AFSPA Rijiju said.
The AFSPA gives security forces full authority to deal with insurgents and has been criticized by civil rights groups for outrageous accusations.
“We used to hear that the Northeast must be included in the main stream of the country. Today I can say that it has become the mainstream of the country,” Rijiju said, noting that the region is growing with fast pace and will become an important economy. center of the country.
The area has been given due attention since Modi became prime minister in 2014, he said, adding that no one would have thought he would visit the area more than 50 times during his tenure until now on.
Apart from the prime minister, other ministers have regularly visited the area to help with its development, and the former feeling of “shunned and treated like a stepmother” is no longer in the minds of the people there. , said Rijiju.
Mr. Modi has turned the “Look East” policy into an “Act East” policy with development works and peace initiatives going hand in hand, adding that the region is now in a “governing regime”. conversion”.
The area was allocated more than Rs 76,000 crore in the recent budget, an increase of Rs 7,500 crore, he said, noting that the central government’s flagship plans have promoted road and mobile connectivity over there.
The “four-corner attack of development” has ensured that no one is left behind, he said.
A safe, secure and developed Northeast is “very good news” for India, he said, pointing to the security challenges that the region has traditionally posed.
He noted that AFSPA was lifted from Tripura in 2015 and from most of Arunachal Pradesh, with the Center signing peace treaties with various rebel groups to defuse the decades-long crisis. .
The government is also working to resolve any border disputes between different states in the region, he said, and credits Home Secretary Amit Shah for carrying out Modi’s vision on the field by continuously organizing dialogues with ministers.
BJP spokesman Gaurav Bhatia also praised the Modi government’s efforts to restore peace and promote development in the Northeast and affirmed that it had solved the major problems facing the region and the country. face to face.
The AFSPA, whereby a geographical location is declared a disturbance area to facilitate the operation of the armed forces, will now be fully applied in 31 counties and partially in 12 counties. of four states in the Northeast – Assam, Nagaland, Manipur and Arunachal Pradesh.
These four states together comprise 90 counties.
The Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act, 1958, was completely withdrawn in Meghalaya in 2018, Tripura in 2015 and Mizoram in the 1980s.
