Swaraj chairs an interactive session on Act East Policy

External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj on Friday chaired an interactive session on the Act East Policy with the Chief Ministers of the north-eastern states.

Chief Ministers of Mizoram, Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland, Sikkim, Assam, Manipur, Meghalaya, and Tripura Lal Thanhawla, Pema Khandu, Neiphiu Rio, Pawan Kumar Chamling, Sarbananda Sonowal, N. Biren Singh, Conrad Sangma and Biplab Kumar Deb respectively took part in the session.

Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Raveesh Kumar took to his Twitter account to inform about the meeting of Swaraj with the ministers prior to the interactive session.

"Involving all stakeholders in policy making! EAM @SushmaSwaraj with Chief Ministers and representatives of eight North Eastern States before chairing an interactive session on 'Act East Policy'.", Kumar tweeted.

The Chief Ministers will be accompanied by senior officials from the States who deal with policy issues related to the subject.

As per a Press Information Bureau release, India's Act East Policy focuses on the extended neighbourhood in the Asia-Pacific region through continuous engagement at bilateral, regional and multilateral levels.

Further, the Ministry of External Affairs said in a press release on Thursday, "Dr Rajiv Kumar, Vice Chairman, Niti Aayog and Gen(Dr) VK Singh (Retd), Minister of State for External Affairs. Foreign Secretary, Secretary(East) from the Ministry of External Affairs as well as Secretaries from the Ministry of DoNER, Tourism and North Eastern Council will also participate in the discussions."

The North East region of India including Arunachal Pradesh has been a priority in the Act East Policy.