"For investors evincing keen interest in the region, a peaceful atmosphere should be created where they (investors) feel secure," he said addressing a conclave of Young Leaders Connect (YLC) here.
Asking the people of the region to remain united, Rijiju said nothing could work in isolation.
"Natural resources can make a region rich, but mismanagement makes it poor. For proper utilisation of resources, skill development is the need of the hour," he said, adding Prime Minister Narendra Modi has transformed the 'Look East Policy' into 'Act East Policy'.
"The people of the region feel they are being neglected and are far away from the mainstream. This perspective needs to be changed as there is nothing called 'side-stream or mainstream', in fact every village in the country is mainstream India. We need to have confidence on us as equal citizens of the country," he said.
More From This Section
The Union Minister of State for Home Affairs said the North East had tremendous potential of having friendly relations with neighbouring countries and all must unite and exist as one.
Dwelling on skill development, the minister said the youths of the region do not prefer to be entrepreneurs, but run behind government jobs.
"This is because of the appeasement policy of the government which normally cripples them," he added.