GUWAHATI | Seminar on ‘Act East Policy’

Several ethnic languages, which are spoken in Assam andArunachal Pradesh as well as across the international border, are today facingthe danger of extinction. Unless the Government takes urgent steps to reviveand protect these languages, there may not be anyone speaking these languageson the Indian side.

These were the main findings at a Research Seminar organized by the Centre for Development and Peace Studies (CDPS), in collaboration with the Centre for Southeast Asian Studies, Gauhati University.

The Seminar titled, Using Ethnicity to Connect and Establish People-to-People Linkages in Southeast Asia as part of India's Act East Policy, was part of a Research Project undertaken by CDPS to analyze the historical and ethnic linkages existing between India and the Southeast Asian region, with special focus on India s Northeast; and to analyze as to how ethnicity may be used to connect people across borders in the Southeast Asian region.

The Seminar was inaugurated by Gautam Mukhopadhaya, IFS (Retd), and former Indian Ambassador to Myanmar, who also delivered the Keynote Address. The other speakers in the Seminar included Ravi Capoor, IAS, and Additional Chief Secretary to the Government of Assam, Industries & Commerce Department, Assam; Dr. Buddhin Gogoi, Principal, Margherita College, Tinsukia; Dr. Sangeeta Gogoi, Head, Department of History, Mangaldoi College; and, Dr. Rajen Singh Laishram, Assistant Professor, Department of Political Science, Manipur University.

Wasbir Hussain, Executive Director, CDPS, welcomed the guests and gave a brief overview of the work done by CDPS as a part of the research project. Dr. Nani Gopal Mahanta, Registrar, Gauhati University & Director, Centre for Southeast Asian Studies, Gauhati University, too spoke on the occasion. Arunav Goswami, Assistant Director, CDPS, made a presentation on the overall findings of the research study.