New Delhi: Dr Rajkumar Ranjan Singh, newly appointed Minister of State (MoS) in the Ministry of External Affairs, on Tuesday, said that he is looking forward to serving the national agenda in terms of economic, cultural and international politics, particularly that of South Asia and SAARC countries.
Speaking exclusively to ETV Bharat, Singh said that he feels very happy to know that most of the ethnic communities of South East Asia even the languages have similarities with that of the Northeast and this portfolio is very interesting and comes with huge responsibilities.
MoS MEA Dr RK Singh in an exclusive interview with ETV Bharat “Since I belong to the proximity of South East Asia and Northeast India is encircled by the three countries-China in the North, Northeast Burma and Bangladesh, therefore, looking at the tri juncture of the Southeast Asian countries, I am being assigned to look after these neighbouring countries. And Prime Minister Modi Ji’s principle is to have good relations with the immediate neighbouring countries," he added.
Talking on the Look East policy, Singh said, “India is looking to the east with exploring the cultural and economic potentiality and re-cementing our traditional relationship with this modern age. For instance, India is the origin of Buddhism and even Burma or Myanmar is a Buddhist country followed by Laos etc. So if we make act east policy through the traditional linkage of Buddhism-religiously as well as culturally and use these two platforms for our economic activities, then it will be a successful act east policy”.
Born on September 1, 1952, at Kongba Makha Nandeibam Leikai, Imphal East district, Singh is a Lok Sabha MP from Manipur. Graduated with an Honours degree from Dhanamanjury College, Imphal from Gauhati University in 1970, he completed his post graduation in Geography from Gauhati University in 1972.
The academic-turned-politician is viewed as a unifier. The one-time MP joined the BJP in 2013 after his retirement and contested the Lok Sabha elections the very next year. However, his debut was unsuccessful but he was successful in securing an MP seat in 2019. The latest induction of Singh who belongs from the Northeast is expected to keep India’s Act East Policy firmly in place. The eastern front has been of utmost priority since the Modi administration came to power.
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