Itanagar, March 9 : Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday said that the Northeastern Region (NE) has a strong links of tourism, business and cultural relations with South and Southeast Asia.

The Prime Minister, virtually from Itanagar, inaugurated 123 key developmental projects including the ambitious Sela Tunnel project in Arunachal Pradesh and laid the foundation stone of 95 new projects worth Rs 55,600 crore in six northeastern states -- Manipur, Meghalaya, Nagaland, Sikkim, Tripura and Arunachal Pradesh.

These developmental projects encompass sectors like rail, road, health, housing, education, border infrastructure, IT, Power, Oil and Gas, among others.

He also launched the UNNATI scheme worth about Rs 10,000 crores.

Addressing the “Viksit Bharat, Viksit North East Program in Itanagar, PM Modi said that developmental works in the region were done four times more in the last five years but during Congress regime, these were not done in 20 years.

“Development of the northeast is the BJP-led government’s primary task. Modi guarantee is accomplished swiftly and these are being executed all the time not during or before the election time,” the Prime Minister told the gathering.

Expressing his confidence that the BJP-led NDA would obtain over 400 seats in the ensuing Lok Sabha elections, the Prime Minister said that the ‘Mission Palm Oil’ will make India ‘Aatmanirbhar’ in the edible oil sector and boost the income of farmers.