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| Sunday, 21 November 2004 |
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Indian PM heads for troubled northeast with economic balm NEW DELHI, (AFP) Prime Minister Manmohan Singh was due Saturday to begin his maiden visit to India's troubled northeast carrying a financial package which officials said could match the one he offered this week to rebuild insurgency-ravaged Kashmir. Singh, who assumed office in May, is scheduled to criss-cross two of the seven northeastern states where homeland campaigns by rebel groups have claimed tens of thousands of lives since India's independence in 1947. The region, dependent on federal handouts, is known as the "Seven Sisters" but despite its alluring title is steeped in decades of official neglect, poverty and rampant unemployment, while being ravaged by AIDS and separatist violence. "In Kashmir, the absence of infrastructure prompted the prime minister to focus on investments in the power, transport, highway and tourism sectors but the northeast's worst curse is unemployment," a top official from the premier's office told AFP. He declined to elaborate on the package Singh is likely to unveil during his three-day trip to oil-rich Assam and poverty-hit Manipur but the premier, a former IMF executive, on the eve of his departure underlined his concerns on similar issues. "We have to address immediately the inadequately-addressed agenda of human development. This we must do so as to convert our large population from being a liability into becoming an asset," Singh said at a function, attended by his entire cabinet. The premier is scheduled to arrive in Manipur's capital Imphal later Saturday and then leave for Guwahati, Assam's main city, on Sunday. During his Wednesday-Thursday trip to disputed Kashmir, Singh offered 5.3 billion dollars for development besides holding out a hand of peace to Kashmiris and announcing the end to a ban on recruitment to government jobs. "We are expecting to get some big financial incentives from the prime minister," Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi told AFP. "We also hope the prime minister will make some very important announcements insofar as opening talks with the militant groups operating in the region are concerned," Gogoi added. Around 30 rebel outfits are operating in the northeast, seeking secession, greater autonomy or independence. They say New Delhi exploits the region which is rich in oil, tea and timber. Indian troops were on high alert after several separatist outfits called a "boycott" of the visit. The banned Revolutionary People's Front of Manipur has called for a 24-hour "public curfew" to protest the visit. "We urge the people of Manipur to remain indoors and boycott the prime minister," it said in a statement. "There is no reason to celebrate the visit of the prime minister of a country that had forcibly annexed Manipur." In Manipur, Singh is scheduled to meet civil groups, address students, open a rail head project in the remote region, as well as hand over to the local government the Kangla Fort, a symbol of the state's rich culture and traditions. The Fort, headquarters of the paramilitary Assam Rifles, was the palace of the Manipuri royalty when in 1891 British forces defeated the local king and converted it into a garrison. In Assam, Singh will attend at least three functions Sunday, including the golden jubilee celebrations of a local newspaper. On Monday he is to flag off a Southeast Asian car rally from Guwahati, the main city of Assam. The rally covers 10 countries and is ultimately aimed at fostering better trade ties in Southeast Asia. |
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