Lok Sabha Question No. 4004 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2023-03-24
Subject: Act East Policy
Ministry: EXTERNAL AFFAIRS
Asked by: Santosh Kumar Gangwar

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF EXTERNAL AFFAIRS

ANSWERED ON- 24/03/2023

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO-4004

## ACT EAST POLICY

4004. SHRI SANTOSH KUMAR GANGWAR

Will the Minister of EXTERNAL AFFAIRS be pleased to state :-

(a) the steps taken by the Government to extend development cooperation to its neighbours to assist them in areas such as trade, development and connectivity;

(b) the main pillars/salient features of India's Act-East policy introduced by the Government; and

(c) the details of major infrastructure projects being implemented by the Government in neighbouring countries?

## ANSWER

## THE MNISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF EXTERNAL AFFAIRS

(SHRI V. MURALEEDHARAN)

(a to c) Under the Neighbourhood First Policy, development cooperation is an important component of   our   engagement   with   neighbouring   countries   with   specific   focus   to  improve   the   bilateral engagement covering all facets of socio-economic development including  trade and connectivity. India's development assistance is based on the needs of the partner countries and is geared towards responding to as many of the requests received from these countries as technically and financially feasible. The main instruments of India's development assistance include Lines of Credit (LOC), Grant assistance, High Impact Community Development Projects (HICDP), Technical Consultancy, Disaster   Relief   and   Humanitarian   aid,   as   well   as   capacity-building   programmes   under   Indian Technical and Economic Cooperation Programme (ITEC).Indian expertise is showcased in project planning and implementation in a wide range of areas covering both infrastructure development as well   as   socio-economic   development. The   details   of   major   infrastructure   projects being implemented by the Government in neighbouring countries under  LoC and Grant in Aid  are placed at Annexure -I and Annexure-II respectively.

The  Act East Policy focuses on the extended neighbourhood in the Indo-Pacific region, with ASEAN as its core. The objective of Act East Policy is to promote economic cooperation, cultural ties and develop strategic relationships with countries in the Indo-Pacific region through continuous engagement at bilateral, regional and multilateral levels, thereby providing enhanced connectivity in its broadest sense, including political, economic, cultural and people-people relations.

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## Details of major  infrastructure projects under Line of Credit (LoC) being implemented by the Government in neighbouring countries.

|   Sl. No. | Country    | Project                                                 |
|-----------|------------|---------------------------------------------------------|
|         1 | Bangladesh | Upgradation of Mongla Port                              |
|         2 | Nepal      | Multiple road projects                                  |
|         3 | Nepal      | Modi-Lekhnath Transmission Line Project                 |
|         4 | Maldives   | Great Maldives Connectivity Project                     |
|         5 | Maldives   | Development of Sports Infrastructure                    |
|         6 | Maldives   | Construction of Cricket Stadium Complex in Maldives     |
|         7 | Myanmar    | Yenwe and Kunchaung irrigation scheme                   |
|         8 | Sri Lanka  | Upgrading railway track from Maho-Anuradapura- Omanthai |

Annexure-II Details of Grant in Aid projects  being implemented by the Government in neighbouring countries.

|   S.No | Country    | Project                                                     |
|--------|------------|-------------------------------------------------------------|
|      1 | Bangladesh | Akhaura-Agartala Rail Link                                  |
|      2 | Bhutan     | Punatsangchhu-I (1200 MWHEP)                                |
|      3 | Bhutan     | Punatsangchhu-II (1020 MWHEP)                               |
|      4 | Maldives   | Construction of Ministry of Defense (MoD) Building          |
|      5 | Maldives   | Greater Male Connectivity Project                           |
|      6 | Myanmar    | Construction of 69 Bridges on TKK road in Myanmar           |
|      7 | Myanmar    | Kaladan Multi Modal transit Project.                        |
|      8 | Myanmar    | Upgradation of Kalewa-Yargi Road section in Myanmar.        |
|      9 | Nepal      | Construction of Integrated Check Post at Nepalgunj in Nepal |
|     10 | Nepal      | Nepal-Bharat Maitri Polytechnic at Hetauda                  |
|     11 | Nepal      | National Police Academy, Panauti, Nepal                     |
|     12 | Nepal      | India-Nepal Cross Border Rail Link: Jayanagar- Bardibas     |
|     13 | Nepal      | India-Nepal Cross Border Rail Link: Jogbani- Biratnagar     |
|     14 | Sri Lanka  | India Housing Projects Phase-III and IV                     |

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