NEW DELHI: Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar said that India’s northeast region is streaming fast into national life, now with 17 airports, 20 waterways, and deep digital penetration.
Dhankhar, addressing the special session of Arunachal Pradesh Legislative Assembly in Itanagar on Saturday said that the region’s organic and natural farming offers a model for other states, and its indigenous resources like bamboo, rubber, and silk present enormous market opportunities.
He lauded the state’s progress and its contributions to India’s unity and prosperity.
Jagdeep Dhankhar said the Act East Policy has elevated the Look East Policy to a functional and transformative level. He remarked, that Prime Minister Narendra Modi took the vision of Look East to the next level, a more functional level that could affect ground realities and be transformative, and that was Act East policy.
Jagdeep Dhankhar said that political parties must understand that ultimately the interest of all converges in nation prospering and nationalism blossoming.
“We cannot, under any situation, keep any interest above our national interest. Nation is first, unity of the nation is first.”
On India’s democratic ethos, the Vice-President expressed his concern about disruptions in legislative functioning, saying, “We cannot afford this kind of spectacle in a country that is the mother of democracy, the largest democracy. How can we go against the spirit of the Constitution? How can we afford to walk out of our obligations?”
He also reminded of the importance of being “vocal for local”, adding, “Be vocal for local—employment opportunities will be generated, foreign exchange will be saved, and entrepreneurship will blossom. We cannot afford to import items that are made in this country, from carpets to furniture, electronics, toys, kites, diyas, and candles.”
Reflecting on governance, Dhankhar said, Corruption has been neutralized by technology, ensuring transparency and accountability in governance. Thanks to transformative technology, there is now no human interface in transferring benefits; it is all digital, direct, and seamless.
Concluding his address, Dhankhar reiterated the importance of unity and nationalism, saying, “we are one, we don’t have to be one because we know each other’s language, we are one because we belong to this great nation.”
Lt Gen Kaiwalya Trivikram Parnaik, PVSM, UYSM, YSM (Retd.), Governor of Arunachal Pradesh, Pema Khandu, Chief Minister Arunachal Pradesh and Tesam Pongte, Speaker of Arunachal Pradesh Legislative Assembly, among other dignitaries were also present on the occasion. (ANI)