NEW DELHI, Feb 23 � Underscoring the need to make Look East Policy work for East and North Eastern region, Foreign Secretary, Ranjan Mathai said that diplomatic initiatives need to be converted into commercial opportunities and investment flows.
�I reaffirm that MEA will work in close cooperation with the Ministry for the Development of the North Eastern Region, the Planning Commission, all economic Ministries and the State Governments of the region,� said the Foreign Secretary addressing the10th Meeting of the BCIM (Bangladesh, China, India, Myanmar) Cooperation Forum
It has been almost 20 years since India enunciated the Look East Policy (LEP). This policy has yielded many benefits, including closer strategic contact between India and Asian countries.
An impressive increase in the quantum of bilateral trade and increased people-to-people interaction, the success of the policy also needs to be viewed from the perspective of how far we have been able to interlink our North Eastern Regions to the rest of Asia, since this part of India provides a natural bridge between us and East Asia.
