Look East policy is a strategic shift in India`s vision of the world: Pranab

External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee on Sunday said that the Look East policy is a strategic shift in Indias vision of the world.

Guwahati, Oct 7 : External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee on Sunday said that the Look East policy is a strategic shift in India's vision of the world.

Speaking after inaugurating the three-day conference on 'India's Look East Policy - Challenges for Sub-Regional Cooperation' here today, Mukherjee said, "We genuinely believe that the country could emerge as one of the fastest growing economies in the world if we can reach out to our civilisational Asian neighbours."

"India is aware of the geo-economic potential of the North Eastern region as a gateway to the East and Southeast Asia. By gradually integrating this region through cross-border market access, the North Eastern region could become the bridge between the Indian economy," he added.

Commerce Minister Kamal Nath and the Ambassadors of Thailand, Myanmar, Bangladesh and Bhutan to India are also taking part in the meet. Deputy Chairman Planning Commission Montek Singh Ahluwalia and Minister of Department of North Eastern Region (DONER) Mani Shankar Aiyar will deliver valedictory address on October 9.

Over 300 experts from India and abroad, including academicians, think tanks, and representatives of industry, intelligentsia, and civil society and senior officials are attending the conference.

Issues pertaining to India's Look East Policy - political economy implication, governance and social issues and role of the civil society, regional connectivity and infrastructure, competitive business investment, informal trade and regional integration, challenges of poverty and human resource development in northeastern states will be discussed during the conference.

India's Look East policy, launched over a decade ago, had resulted in India-ASEAN trade going up ten times - from 2.3 billion dollar in 1990 to 23 billion dollars by 2005.

The policy launched in 1992 had its genesis in the end of the cold war, following the collapse of the Soviet Union. In the aftermath of India's liberalization, it was more than just a foreign policy alternative as it provided a development alternative as well, in synchronization with the globalisation and the resurgence of Asia as an economic powerhouse.

This conference has been organised in association with the Omeo Kumar Das Institute of Social Change and Development (OKDISCD) and the Indian Council for Research on International Economic Relations (ICRIER).

ANI