New Delhi: Union Home and Cooperation Minister Amit Shah has said that the Land Ports Authority of India (LPAI), the youngest among all undertakings of Ministry of Home Affairs, should prepare a roadmap for its next 25 years to plan what will be the objective of our trade with our neighbouring countries through the land routes.
Union Home and Cooperation Minister Shah, who was addressing the 10th Foundation Day celebrations of the LPAI here as the Chief Guest here on Friday, said: “We have to aim at creating an impenetrable security circle by adopting state-of-the-art technology. To achieve these goals, we should plan out five spans of five years and within them one-year targets should also be fixed through annual plans, then only will we achieve our goals.”
The Minister said that India has a land border of 15,000 km and there are different challenges along this border. “There is hardly any country, whose land border is as challenging as India's and hardly any country, whose land border has as many opportunities as India’s. Today India is moving towards becoming a self-reliant nation under the leadership of Shri Modi, and there is no doubt that within the next 10 years India will be dominant as a production hub of the world.”
“We will facilitate trade to seven countries adjacent to our land border to send products out of India. If we study the geography and history of our nation closely, we will realize that India is the only country in the world which is a geo-cultural country. Many countries around the world are geo-political countries, whereas India is the only country in the world that can be considered as a purely geo-cultural country. In spite of the diversity in the form of many languages, cultures, cuisines and costumes, we are a nation united by a common culture,” he said.
“LPAI plays a vital role in boosting our economy without compromising with security and increasing business in neighbouring countries. LPAI is also working to create strong and renewed ties between nations along our borders through cultural exchanges and promoting dialogue between peoples who share similar ways of living, dialect and culture. From another point of view, LPAI is also a medium of communication between the peoples of countries along our borders,” he said. /BI/
