Union home minister P. Chidambaram at the inauguration of the NSG regional hub in Chennai last week. File picture

Guwahati, July 10: The Centre will involve all northeastern states in selecting the location for an NSG hub in the region, Delhi has told Dispur.

North Block’s confidential communiqué was in response to the Assam government’s request that an NSG hub be located in the region.

Assam was among the first of the northeastern states to raise the demand for an NSG hub in the region. Manipur, another terror-infested state, had also pleaded for a similar hub.

At present, the NSG hub at Salt Lake in Calcutta is assigned to cater to the security requirements of the Northeast too.

The request of the two states was supported by the argument that apart from several militant outfits being active in the region, it was surrounded by foreign countries whose soil was often used by agencies inimical to India.

The region is connected with mainland India by a 26-km “chicken-neck” corridor, while it shares most of its borders with other countries.

Sources in Dispur said Assam stands a good chance of hosting an NSG hub as it had better infrastructure required for such an institution and was also better connected with the other states in the region.

The home ministry has reportedly given an indication that apart from the four hubs inaugurated recently, it had a plan to set up more NSG hubs in the country in a phased manner. The region’s demand would be looked into as and when it decided to increase their number.

Along with Jammu and Kashmir, the Northeast will get priority in locating the base of the anti-terror force in the next phase, the sources said.

The home ministry decided to set up NSG hubs in various parts of the country for quick mobilisation of the force after the terror attack in Mumbai.

Four NSG hubs were inaugurated recently at Mumbai, Chennai, Hyderabad and Calcutta to enable the country’s premier combat force to react promptly to any terror threat or attack within their respective jurisdictions.

Dispur had made written requests to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and home minister P. Chidambaram to set up an NSG hub in Assam, considering the state and the region’s vulnerability to terror strikes.

Both chief minister Tarun Gogoi and former governor late Shiv Charan Mathur had taken up the matter with the Centre.