India, May 23 -- Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday said the northeast, once known merely as a frontier region, has now become a front-runner in India's growth story.

At the Rising Northeast Investors Summit, PM Modi said, "Developing East India is very important, and the northeast is the most important part of East India. For us, East doesn't just mean a direction; it means empower, act, strengthen, and transform. This is our government's policy for East India. This policy and priority have brought our Northeast to the centre stage of growth."

He said that the government's approach to the northeast was heartfelt, not just planned, adding that Union ministers have visited over 700 times, staying overnight to truly connect with the r...