Moreh Visit of Advisor to Prime Minister of India on May 18 2012

By Lunminthang Haokip *

Moreh Visit of Advisor to Prime Minister of India on May 18 2012 :: Pix by Lunminthang Haokip

The Preparation: On 17th May, 2012, in the run-up to the visit of Shri TKA Nair, the Advisor to the Prime Minister of India to Moreh border town of Manipur, Shri K. Govindas Singh, Hon'ble Minister (Commerce & Industries), Manipur, Shri D. Korungthang, Hon'ble MLA, Tengnoupal A/C and Shri Lhukhosei Zou, Hon'ble Chairman, Chandel Autonomous District Council, were sent from Imphal to prepare the ground for the visit of Shri TKA Nair, Advisor to the Prime Minister of India to Moreh on 18 May, 2012.

Shri Nair, in turn, was on a special mission to review and assess the progress of the much touted Indo-Myanmar Trade Agreement at the action-station before the Hon'ble PM's Myanmar visit by the end of May this year.

The Summer Survey: Mr Govindas and Mr Korungthang were guided by Mr Lhukhosei and a team of Hill Tribal Council, Moreh to identify more than 1000 acres of land in the neighbourhood of the town-of-visit in the light of the GOI and State Government's desire to create a Special Economic Zone in the border area of Manipur under Look East policy.

Talks are abuzz that the decks had been cleared for provision of an international border town and a timber park in the vicinity of Moreh. The better part of 17 May was spent in location hunting by the three visiting dignitaries. After a hard day's work, suitable stretches of wooded land had been identified. The leaders should be thanked for their tireless effort to get things done in Moreh public interest.

Meeting At HTC Office.: Thanks to the communal clashes of the past decades, community organisations are more prominent in having a say in the affairs of Moreh than their counterparts are elsewhere. Hill Tribal Council is one such post-clashes social body that has a pincer-hold on the Kukis of Moreh.

The evening of 18 May saw representatives of Meetei Council, Manipuri Muslim Council, Tamil Sangam, HTC, and Gorkha Samaj, Moreh gather in the first floor open hall of HTC office to have a confabulation with the emissaries from the State capital. The Minister, the MLA and the Chairman/CADC's speeches were followed by brief observations on facets of the development of Moreh by community leaders. As the confab progressed, unity and oneness of purpose gained momentum.

Speech Of Concern: The Commerce and Industry Minister's speech struck a chord with the day's audience. His thrust area revolved around SEZ, international border town, timber park, optimization of free passage into Myanmar and vice versa, localisation of viable industries at Moreh, health tourism for Myanmar, import of coal from Kalewa, Myanmar, for a proposed thermal plant at Moreh, regularisation of travel documents between India and Myanmar and construction of a state-of-the-art shopping mall near Gate no. 2, Moreh to shed our image of being dubbed a buyer-country only in Indo-Myanmar trading.

Mr. Govindas exuded care and concern for the people he visited. Enthusing and encouraging the leaders of the gateway town to the golden land, the seasoned entrepreneur otherwise, in a humble and articulate manner, sought the co-operation of the local populace to turn Moreh into a booming "Nongpokthong (eastern corridor)" for India. The thundering applause that followed his speech evidenced that the Minister could stir up goodwill of the localites at will.

Moreh Visit of Advisor to Prime Minister of India on May 18 2012 :: Pix by Lunminthang Haokip

The Circle MLA's Address: The leaders of Moreh welcomed Mr Korungthang, their latest representative in the State Legislature, with open arms, if not psalms. The mild-spoken circle MLA said he did not want to come to Moreh before his official felicitation at the same place on 25 May, 2012. But the visit of the dignitary from the PMO caused the CMO to ask him to set things in order in advance along with the Commerce and Industries Minister. He termed his coming "an advance visit" much to the amusement of the gathering.

The Langol-born mass leader appealed to the local folks to extend co-operation to strengthen his hands in supporting a stable Government and assured that regardless of his position in the Government, he would continue to serve as a servant of his subject. As a parting shot, the morally-disciplined Legislator stressed the need for engagement of financially sound contractors to create better assets for posterity.

The Arrival of The Advisor: The otherwise humidity-induced sleepy township of Moreh woke up alert to heartily welcome Mr. TKA Nair, Advisor to the PM on 18 May, 2012. Top-level Army, State Police and District Administration Officers swung in action to ensure security and proper arrangement of the important call from the PM's own emissary to a distant border town. Soon as the helicopter that carried Mr Nair, Mr. O. Nabakishore Singh, Principal Secretary (Comm & Ind), GoM, Director General, Foreign Trade, Lt. General, BRO and Director, PMO, landed at Moreh helipad, they were received by Mr K. Govindas, Minister (Comm & Ind), Manipu)r, Mr D. Korungthang, MLA and Mr. Lhukhosei Zou, Chairman, CADC with bouquet. From there, the Delhi team was escorted to inspect ICP site, Namphalong market and Land Custom Office, Moreh.

Meeting At Trade Centre: The large Conference hall of Trade Centre was packed to the brim with representatives of NGOs, Chambers of Commerce, Officials, Army and Police Officers, Bank functionaries and community leaders in the afternoon. Each representative was invited to share the problem faced in border trading with Myanmar. Grievances were ventilated, views given and memorandums were submitted. Mr Nair patiently heard them all and finally made his valuable observations in a manner becoming of his high status.

The Advisor's Piece of Advice: Answering the queries on border trade with professional ease, the man from PMO was firm in clarifying that his job was to facilitate trade with Myanmar. He and his team will not be in the business of trading. The actual players will be those who are in the business of commerce. The Advisor also briefed the curious audience that he came to Manipur's trading hub to assess and evaluate the state of affairs of business under Indo Myanmar Trade Agreement before the Hon'ble Prime Minister of India's Myanmar visit. He also urged the stake-holders to use the available facilities properly and said in an emotional tone, "Let us work together. We have many long-term objectives to see that this part of the country is as developed as other parts of India".

Vote Of Thanks: Mr O. Nabakishore, Principal Secretary, GoM thanked the participants and closed the meeting.

This author was entrusted to draft a memorandum on behalf of the Community Leaders of Moreh to put together in words the lackings and desires of the border town residents:

Joint Memorandum submitted to Shri TKA Nair,
respected Advisor to Hon'ble Prime Minister of India
by the Community leaders of Moreh border town, Manipur, India
on 18th May, 2012.

Respected Sir;

On this auspicious occasion of your maiden visit to Manipur's border town, Moreh, we the undersigned community leaders of Moreh, feeling heartily privileged by your visit, hereby submit, in the following paragraphs, some of the problems we face as citizens of a far-flung Indian town located at the fringe of Myanmar border and our collective desire on measures to be taken up to lift up the lot of this under-developed mini-cosmopolitan settlement on the proposed Trans-Asian Highway for your kind further communication to draw the immediate attention of the Hon'ble Prime Minister of India:

1. That the cutting edge administration of Moreh Sub-Division, which is presently headed by an Additional Deputy Commissioner of the Government of Manipur, is not compatible with the administrative set-up of Tamu, its counterpart and the neighbouring Myanmar town, which has a Deputy Commissioner at the helm of affairs, when it comes to taking immediate decisions and disposal of urgent international matters.

2. Considering the non-stop daily domestic tourists inflow to this commercial town, and the fact that the proposed Asian Highway Nos. 1, 2, 3 and 14 are to pass through Moreh on their way to other states of India, the urban settlement lacks infrastructure of international standard like Star Hotels, decent Restaurants, scheduled Commercial Banks, amusement parks, garbage disposal facilities, public conveniences, metalled link roads, piped water supply, auditorium, conference halls, modern parking facilities, Authority to control traffic, Technical Institutes, employment-generating undertakings, uninterrupted power supply etc.

3. The calculated global lure of heavily under-invoiced Chinese consumer goods made available in huge quantity by Myanmar traders at Namphalong border market complex, and the exclusion of many items Myanmar would like to buy in the list of Indo-Myanmar Trade Agreement, resulted in rendering Moreh border trading a one way commercial traffic. We are the buyers and they are the sellers; and not vice-versa. This unfair deal accounts for the booming economy of Tamu town at our expense.

4. The recent limitation of the erstwhile 100 Kms free passage inside Indian and Myanmar territory on the part of citizens of both countries to a mere 16 Kms undermined and hindered international trading and human social contacts across the border. This restriction contradicts the very spirit of Indo-Myanmar friendship.

In the light of the facts cited above, we reiterate our humble request to your good office kindly to convey our genuine grievances to the Hon'ble Prime Minister of our country to immediately redress the same by providing funds from the PM's Special packages to implement the following projects in tune with the principle of SEZ –Special Economic Zone - under Look East Policy in the interest of equipping Moreh, India's most viable gateway to ASEAN countries, with infrastructure and trade facility commensurate with its growing importance:

1. Creation of International Border Township (1500 acres of land adjacent to Myanmar had been identified for the purpose near Moreh).

2. Creation of Timber Park (Sufficient land will be made available at Khudengthabi, 8 Kms from Moreh).

3. Inclusion of "Sawn Teak" as the 41st Import item in the list of Trade Items under Indo-Myanmar Trade Agreement.

4. To facilitate Import of Coal from Kalewah, Myanmar for Thermal Power Plant at Moreh.

5. Speedy construction a state-of-the-art Shopping Mall to balance trading at Moreh Gate No. 2 opposite Namphalong Market Complex, Myanmar.

6. Cause free passage of citizens of Myanmar and India up to 150 Kms inside both countries from the border to facilitate Religious and Medical Tourism.

7. Not to shift Moreh as the designated action-station of border trade between India and Myanmar at any cost. Seeking alternative routes for border trade will be much more time and resource consuming.

8. Introduction of a Small Passenger-Flight service between Imphal and Moreh to convenience frequent travels relating to border trade transactions.

9. Urgent construction of structures to facilitate ICP – Integrated Check Post- at Moreh, and to make it fully functional.

Lunminthang Haokip

* Lunminthang Haokip, a resident of Old Lambulane, Imphal, is a regular contributor to e-pao.net. He can be contacted at lunminthang(dot)haokip(at)gmail(dot)com or his blog here
This article was webcasted on May 18, 2012.