Poor infrastructure in India's northeast is a 'matter of shame', according to Minister of State for Commerce Jairam Ramesh, who has stressed the need to develop the region before implementing the country's Look East Policy.

'We have to look at the northeast before looking east,' he said while addressing a conference on 'Look East Policy: A Reality Check' here Wednesday.

Expressing dissatisfaction with the nature of border trade with Myanmar at Moreh border trade point along Manipur, the minister said: 'We exchange only 22 items as of now with Myanmar and the it is limited to residents living along the border.'

Ramesh called for an expansion of the trade base that currently includes only small items like garlic, fresh vegetables, tomato, ginger and tobacco.

'India will also take a proactive part in any bilateral talks with the neighbouring countries to open more border points,' he told the conference organised by the North East Media Forum.

He said the government had sanctioned Rs.2 billion to develop four world-class land custom stations at Moreh, Dawki in Meghalaya, Sutarkandi in Assam and another in Agartala.

A Special Purpose Tea Fund of Rs.47 billion has been sanctioned for the revival of the tea sector and 15 percent of it is earmarked for Assam.

An India International Tea festival would be held in November in Kolkata with two satellite events at Jorhat in Assam and Darjeeling, to penetrate into the Egyptian, Pakistan and Iranian markets, Ramesh added.

Moreover, 200,000 hectares of land in Assam has been identified for rubber plantation.

Cold storage facilities at the major airports in northeast India are also being developed to avail better marketing facilities for organic products like pineapple and ginger, he said.

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