MoS Nirmala Sitharaman opens Zokhawthar Land Customs Station near Indo-Myanmar border

Sitharaman said she was ‘touched’ by Chief Minister Lal Thanhawla saying she was the first Union Minister to visit the remote border town.

Union Minister of State for Trade and Commerce Nirmala Sitharaman officially opened the Zokhawthar Land Customs Station near Mizoram’s border with Myanmar on Wednesday, saying the Modi government will pursue all matters related to the North-East region on a “mission mode” and that the PM has asked all Union Ministers to quickly deal with all such issues and sort out any new works as soon as possible and make ground visits whenever needed.

“We want to directly deal with the people here, and as we are on a mission mode, I will pursue the matters of setting up a bank and post-office here in this town just as the Village Council (the equivalent of a panchayat) members have asked me to,” she said.

The Commerce Minister, who arrived in Mizoram on Tuesday, said she was “touched” by Chief Minister Lal Thanhawla saying she was the first Union Minister to visit the remote border town. In his speech at the opening ceremony, Lal Thanhawla offered his “heartfelt gratitude” to Sitharaman for visiting the spot, saying the customs station has been ready for a long time but it could not be opened because no Union Minister could find the time to visit it.

The Union Minister said she has also visited a proposed border-haat along the Tripura-Bangladesh border and a trade centre at Moreh in Manipur in the past two months, adding Myanmar borders four Indian states and international trade between the two countries currently stands at USD 2.28 billion, adding as much as 90% of goods cleared for export to Myanmar would be tax-exempt.

CM Lal Thanhawla meanwhile said Indo-Myanmar border trade centres are being planned at four other places in Mizoram, while weekly-haats are being planned at four others. Talking about Banghladesh, the other country that shares a border with Mizoram, Lal Thanhawla said he has spoken to the Bangladeshi PM twice and that experts from that country are slated to visit the border soon to chalk out suitable locations for trade centers.

Mizoram shares a 722 km border with the two countries.

Wednesday’s customs station opening ceremony was attended by 19 officials from Myanmar. They were led by Indian Consul General at Mandalay Nanda Kumar N.

The Zokhawthar Land Customs Station is equipped with a weigh bridge, plant quarantine building and toll-gate, and was since 2012 authorised to facilitate trade of 62 different commodities.

Source:: Indian Express