India, EU Connectivity Conference held to explore investments in northeastern states

The Ministry of External Affairs, the European Union Delegation to India, and the Asian Confluence jointly organised the India-EU Connectivity Conference in Meghalaya on June 1–2 to explore investments in northeastern states.

Meghalaya Chief Minister Conrad Sangma and Minister of State for External Affairs (MoS) Rajkumar Ranjan Singh inaugurated the conference on Thursday, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said in a press release. The objective of the conference was to explore connectivity investments and identify concrete projects in the northeastern states of India and with India’s neighbours, Nepal, Bhutan, and Bangladesh, for implementation under the India-EU Connectivity Partnership, which was launched during the India-EU leaders meeting held in May 2021.

In his address, Rajkumar Ranjan Singh stressed the importance placed by the Indian government on connectivity initiatives, both within the country and as part of India’s development partnership abroad. He highlighted the opportunities for India-EU triangular development cooperation in South Asia and the Indo-Pacific.

Meghalaya CM Conrad Sangma, in his address, stressed the importance of interstate and cross-border connectivity for the North East region as a whole and for Meghalaya in particular. He referred to India’s ‘Act East’ policy, within which Meghalaya has an ‘Act South’ policy focusing on the need to improve connectivity between Meghalaya and Bangladesh, according to an MEA press release.

According to the MEA press release, sessions witnessed participation from senior officials of the Government of India, the EU Commission, governments of northeastern states, the North Eastern Council, stakeholders from Nepal and Bangladesh, and executives from the private sector with a presence in the region.

The panel on ‘Digital Connectivity’ focused on improving the network penetration in the region by deploying infrastructure and simultaneously building the capacity of the various stakeholders to ensure meaningful connectivity. During the conference, developing localised off-grid solutions through community participation was stressed as the way forward to promote “energy connectivity” in the region.

Experts deliberating on ‘Transport Connectivity’ lauded the several ongoing transformative infrastructure developments in road, rail, and waterway connections in the region. They also suggested that there was a need for more. Deliberations also focused on identifying the right projects to source external funding.