Chief Ministers of Mizoram, Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland, Sikkim, Assam, Manipur, Meghalaya, and Tripura Lal Thanhawla, Pema Khandu, Neiphiu Rio, Pawan Kumar Chamling, Sarbananda Sonowal, N. Biren Singh, Conrad Sangma and Biplab Kumar Deb had a detailed interactive session on the Act East Policy with EAM Sushma Swaraj on Friday. This was for the first time that all chief ministers of the northeastern states assembled in the Ministry of External Affairs to participate and act on a major foreign policy initiative. "The meeting also attempted to instill a global outlook among the state leaders and bureaucracy," said a senior official accompanying Assam chief minister Sarbananda Sonowal. "Development always has meant catering to the demands of our state only. But the Act East Policy has taught us to think global as under this policy we are to take up projects with not only national but also international importance and obligations." Briefing journalists after the meeting, Sonowal said that the meeting was mainly about developing regional cooperation to enhance connectivity with the ASEAN nations. "It has been a very meaningful discussion with the initiative of the Minister of External Affairs Sushma Swaraj. We have put up our views regarding expediting the Act East Policy. The chief minister also said that a detailed project report will be prepared to fortify the Act East Policy covering all the sectors of the economy including health, education, tourism, trade and commerce. "We hope that the concerned ministry will take up the issues we have put up to fulfill the expectations of the people," Sonowal said. The Act East Policy was declared after Narendra Modi took over as prime minister in 2014. "India's Act East Policy focusses on the extended neighborhood in the Asia-Pacific region. The main objective of the policy is to boost economic cooperation between the ASEAN states through the northeastern states as the region is closest to the ASEAN nations than any other part of the country. Sonowal pressed upon the need to start flights to the ASEAN nations from Guwahati. In his interaction with the media, the Assam chief minister said that the state has already started export of banana to Dubai. "This week for the first time Assam exported nearly 1.2 metric tonnes of Malbhog variety of banana to Dubai by air. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has envisioned the northeastern region to develop as an organic hub. We are now moving in that direction," he said. Participating in the meeting, Tripura pressed upon the need to modify the custom rules to enable export of pineapple, rubber, and bamboo directly from the state to Bangladesh. "There are non-tariff trade restrictions on the export of these commodities through its land customs stations (LCSs) in Tripura to Bangladesh. We have to export these products through Kolkata when we share a border with Bangladesh," an official from the state said.