Guwahati: The north-eastern States and civil society groups have urged the External Affairs Ministry to ensure that the region is made the centre of Look East Policy (LEP) and not kept just a corridor in the country's relations with Southeast Asia.

This request was made by Secretary, Ministry of Development of North Eastern Region (DoNER), Sushma Singh, at a seminar on the Look East Policy organised by the External Affairs Ministry at Shillong on Saturday. The session was followed by a lecture by External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee on "Geography as opportunity."

Interactive meets

Mr. Mukherjee said he had asked the newly created Public Diplomacy Division of the Ministry to hold interactive conferences to apprise the civil society, non-governmental organisations, academia, business and industry and the media of the foreign policy initiatives, including the LEP and get their inputs.

Ms. Singh said the LEP had evoked tremendous interest in the region and the northeastern States wanted them to be involved in the process. They want their interest be kept in mind while formulating the policy.

Meghalaya Chief Minister D.D. Lapang urged Mr. Mukherjee to ensure that the northeast was not just kept as a corridor in the LEP initiative. The whole region should be involved in the process to benefit from it.

Twenty civil society groups also urged Mr. Mukherjee to "demystify" the LEP and that the northeast be made central to the policy.

The North East Students' Organisation said the establishment of most of the economic hubs outside the region resulted in further "marginalisation" of the people in policy, decision-making and implementation.

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