Arunachal Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister Chowna Mein appealed to the central government to consider reopening the historic Stilwell Road. Mein made this appeal at the 62nd biennial central conference of the All Assam Ahom Association here in Assam’s Tinsukia district on Sunday.
“Northeast region is the gateway to the ASEAN countries and reopening of the road will ease travel and cut distance for people living on both sides of the border and promote cross-border trade,” he said. It will further deepen the age-old cultural linkage with ASEAN countries and act as a catalyst for cross-border trade, he noted. “Assam and Arunachal share common interests”
Deputy Chief Minister Chowna Mein appealed to the people of both Assam and Arunachal to continue their peaceful relationships. “The people of both the states since time immemorial have been maintaining cordial relations and we must strive to maintain the bond of love, brotherhood and peaceful coexistence in the future too,” Mein said at the biennial central conference of the All Assam Ahom Association here in Sadiya subdivision of Assam’s Tinsukia district on Sunday.
He said the people of both the states are interdependent and share common interests in many things. Mein informed the gathering that the Arunachal Pradesh Literary Society had first proposed Prime Minister Narendra Modi to name the Dhola-Sadiya bridge after Dr Bhupen Hazarika.
The DCM lauded the initiatives taken by the pioneers of the All Assam Ahom Association and the tireless efforts made by the organization for uniting all the Tai brothers in Assam. “Tai families share similar origin, history and culture and most of us still maintain the Tai language as our mother tongue and have a very rich history and literature as we have our own script since time immemorial,” Mein said.
“We look forward to Tai Ahom, the largest family of Tai group in India, to lead us all and play the role of a big brother in uniting the Tai families under one umbrella,” said Mein. Assam Minister Pijush Hazarika, Sadiya MLA Bolin Chetia, Chutia Honmilon Parishad president Amio Borah and All Assam Ahom Habha president Uma Konwar, Purbanchal Tai Sahitya Sabha president Dr Dayananda Borgohain attended the meeting.