Itanagar: Arunachal Pradesh Governor Gen
(Retd) J J Singh has urged the North East Council (NEC) to
impress upon the Centre for developing the historic Stilwell
Road and opening of border trade with South East Asian
countries across Pangsau pass.
"By opening the road, we would definitely be providing
a valuable route for a boost to the economy of the
North-Eastern states and for movement of people, tourists in
particular," Singh said in his address at the 60th Plenary
session of the NEC in New Delhi yesterday.
The 1,079-km Stilwell road, built during the World War
II, links Ledo in Assam with Kunming in China through the
Pangsau Pass. The road has been heavily damaged in landslides
in many places.
"Once the entire stretch of the road is usable, its
formal opening is inevitable and is bound to happen sooner or
later. The major items of import from Myanmar side would be
valuable timber (teak), precious gems, medicinal plants and
other agricultural products," the governor said.
The timber could help revive many of the wood based
industries that had to be shut down in Assam and Arunachal
Pradesh following the Supreme Court`s restrictions on timber
operations in 1996, he said.
He said, the opening of this road can transform the
economy of the under-developed and insurgency-affected North
Eastern region of the country by making it a production hub
for feeding the Myanmarese and western Chinese markets.
PTI
