SHILLONG, July 9 - Assam Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal today said Islamic radical forces have spread their bases in the Northeast and sought inter-state and international cooperation to overcome the security challenge.
Addressing the 67th plenary of the North Eastern Council here, Sonowal expressed concern over security-related challenges in the region. Although the situation has improved, challenges remain,� he said.
�The militants operating in one state find shelter in another and cross over to neighbouring countries. There is also expansion of Islamic radical forces in the region. All northeastern states must come together to effectively meet the challenges,� he told the member states.
Sonowal focused on the three-decade-old insurgency in Assam like in other states of the region. He said the security scenario has improved gradually through a strategy of determined counterinsurgency operations coupled with dialogue with insurgents, but the threat remains.
He also raised the issue of perennial flood in Assam and said the severity of flood and erosion in the State has been accentuated by excessive silt flowing with river waters. �We need to address the problem in a holistic manner,� he said.
Stating that the Northeast is a storehouse of water resources, Sonowal said proper and judicious use of this resource would contribute to the growth of national GDP.
�Since socioeconomic development of the region totally depends on proper management of the Brahmaputra and Barak basins, it is necessary to set up an effective planning and management authority, which would also help in solving the flood and erosion problem,� Sonowal suggested.
