India Funds Three-Nation Road

[Lite Beer]

India funds three-nation road

Nophakhun Limsamarnphun

The Nation on Sunday

Anil Wadhwa

BANGKOK: -- $500-million loan from New Delhi to help build 3,200km highway through Myanmar and linking to Thailand

India, one of Asean's six partner countries, has granted a US$500-million (Bt15.7-billion) loan to Myanmar, part of which will be used to finance construction of a 3,200-km trilateral highway linking India, Myanmar and Thailand, according to the Indian ambassador to Bangkok.

In an interview with The Nation, Anil Wadhwa said New Delhi would also host an Indian-Asean Summit from December 19 to 22 this year to mark the 20th anniversary of India's relations with the 10-country regional group.

During the summit - which will be attended by most Asean leaders, including Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra - India's connectivity with other Asean countries via roads, rail and other forms of transportation would be at the top of the agenda, the envoy said.

Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh recently visited Myanmar and extended the credit line to his counterpart, of which about $100 million is earmarked for roads inside Myanmar as part of the trilateral highway.

The 3,200km route will run from India's northeastern states into Myanmar, where over 1,600km of roads will be built or improved. Other sources of funds include the Asian Development Bank and the World Bank.

"This will connect India with Myanmar all the way down to Mandalay. After that, we will connect with a place where the Thai authorities are building a highway, which is 63km from the Thai border into Myanmar," the ambassador said.

"The trilateral highway project will allow freight and container trucks to move across the borders from India to Myanmar and Thailand via Chiang Rai and border towns.

"It will play a crucial role in boosting trade and investment flows in the three countries, creating jobs and other benefits, he said.

"We expect this to benefit India's northeastern region as well, as four of our states are on the

border with Myanmar, especially if there is connectivity to ports like the planned Dawei deep-sea port and industrial estate in Myanmar," Wadhwa said.

The envoy said India had adopted a "Look East" policy to boost its economic ties with Asean, which has six partner countries, namely, China, Japan, Korea, India, Australia and New Zealand.

The trilateral highway will form the so-called East-West economic corridor linking India with Myanmar, Thailand, Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam.

In addition, there is also a North-South corridor linking southern China with the rest of mainland Southeast Asia from Myanmar and Thailand all the way down to Malaysia and Singapore.

According to the Indian ambassador to Bangkok, "the feasibility study on the trilateral highway is complete".

However, there have been some changes on the routing in Myanmar to avoid hills and valleys.

"Construction work has started as we also aim to improve the existing roads and bridges. This project should be completed by 2016," he said.

The Indian government plans to hold a series of events to promote this project, including a cross-border India-Asean rally planned for later this year to pass through several Asean countries, including Thailand - twice - and then connect to Myanmar and India. "This will help test the routing. Even today, we can drive up all the way to India, but we need a highway that can take container traffic to allow movement of goods.

"The rally will take place in November and December, passing through Phuket and Bangkok, where we will also hold an Indian food festival and other cultural events," the ambassador said.

"We will also hold business seminars in Bangkok with the theme of focusing on business opportunities in the northeast of India in connection with Thailand. There will be similar events in Myanmar and other Asean countries totalling 50 during that period," he said.

-- The Nation 2012-08-12

[mca]

Bloody hell Omar Sharif's put on a bit of weight.

Edited August 11, 2012 by mca

[Thai at Heart]

Bloody hell Omar Sharif's put on a bit of weight.

Good chuckle to start the day

[BuddhistVirus]

Bloody hell Omar Sharif's put on a bit of weight.

[OzMick]

And on which side of the road should we drive?

[Payboy]

And on which side of the road should we drive?

On the upper side would be nice.

[OzMick]

And on which side of the road should we drive?

On the upper side would be nice.

So that's what tri-lateral means - it has 3 sides !

[noitom]

The Indians should focus on improving their own infrastructure and underclass problems first. If they plan to build a highway anything like the road from Delhi to Agra it would be a laugher. The road to Agra (the Taj Majal destination) makes India look like a country not to be taken seriously.

[Payboy]

And on which side of the road should we drive?

On the upper side would be nice.

So that's what tri-lateral means - it has 3 sides !

Just 3 sides! A single Indian pothole is multidimensional and takes hours to navigate.

[pedro01]

Bloody hell Omar Sharif's put on a bit of weight.

lol!

[ratcatcher]

Bloody hell Omar Sharif's put on a bit of weight.

You be the judge.

[Payboy]

Bloody hell Omar Sharif's put on a bit of weight.

You be the judge.

I can recommend Dr Zhivago's weight loss clinic.

Edited August 12, 2012 by Payboy

[ratcatcher]

I was just wondering if anyone has asked Bangladesh to this highway party?

They have a fair amount of real estate between India and Me and Ma and if they plan to avoid Bangla, they will almost be knocking on the border of Bhutan way up north.

No doubt someone here knows the answer?

[OzMick]

I was just wondering if anyone has asked Bangladesh to this highway party?

They have a fair amount of real estate between India and Me and Ma and if they plan to avoid Bangla, they will almost be knocking on the border of Bhutan way up north.

No doubt someone here knows the answer?

No reason to go via Bangladesh as India has a much longer border with Myanmar. Plenty of reasons to AVOID Bangladesh's huge delta network which would require many many bridges, with very unstable water-courses and soil.

[harrry]

Bloody hell Omar Sharif's put on a bit of weight.

You be the judge.

That is what happens when you become a politician/

[billd766]

Bloody hell Omar Sharif's put on a bit of weight.

You be the judge.

I can recommend Dr Zhivago's weight loss clinic.

I would have thought of Paul Shane from Hi-Di-Hi

[ratcatcher]

I was just wondering if anyone has asked Bangladesh to this highway party?

They have a fair amount of real estate between India and Me and Ma and if they plan to avoid Bangla, they will almost be knocking on the border of Bhutan way up north.

No doubt someone here knows the answer?

No reason to go via Bangladesh as India has a much longer border with Myanmar. Plenty of reasons to AVOID Bangladesh's huge delta network which would require many many bridges, with very unstable water-courses and soil.

Quite true Mick, but there's that narrow passage right up north to negotiate, way north.

[Skywalker69]

And on which side of the road should we drive?

The Indian side? or in the middle?

[ovenman]

Quite true Mick, but there's that narrow passage right up north to negotiate, way north.

The Indian railway line to the northeast states runs thru that narrow passage, no reason to assume that a highway wouldn't do the same.

Edited August 12, 2012 by ovenman

[Skywalker69]

Bloody hell Omar Sharif's put on a bit of weight.

You be the judge.

That is what happens when you become a politician/

I can´t wait for a picture of Yingluck in a few years time.

[harrry]

Bloody hell Omar Sharif's put on a bit of weight.

You be the judge.

That is what happens when you become a politician/

I can´t wait for a picture of Yingluck in a few years time.

As long as she is not in office. Come to think of it she never is in the office....always helicopters can' t fly or something..

Edited August 12, 2012 by harrry

[OzMick]

I was just wondering if anyone has asked Bangladesh to this highway party?

They have a fair amount of real estate between India and Me and Ma and if they plan to avoid Bangla, they will almost be knocking on the border of Bhutan way up north.

No doubt someone here knows the answer?

No reason to go via Bangladesh as India has a much longer border with Myanmar. Plenty of reasons to AVOID Bangladesh's huge delta network which would require many many bridges, with very unstable water-courses and soil.

Quite true Mick, but there's that narrow passage right up north to negotiate, way north.

Eastern India has good road and broad-gauge rail connections to the rest of the country. This is improving the Myanmar end - I am assuming upgrading Myanmar's Highway(?) 311 from Imphal in Manipur to Saigang.

[harrry]

I was just wondering if anyone has asked Bangladesh to this highway party?

They have a fair amount of real estate between India and Me and Ma and if they plan to avoid Bangla, they will almost be knocking on the border of Bhutan way up north.

No doubt someone here knows the answer?

No reason to go via Bangladesh as India has a much longer border with Myanmar. Plenty of reasons to AVOID Bangladesh's huge delta network which would require many many bridges, with very unstable water-courses and soil.

Quite true Mick, but there's that narrow passage right up north to negotiate, way north.

Eastern India has good road and broad-gauge rail connections to the rest of the country. This is improving the Myanmar end - I am assuming upgrading Myanmar's Highway(?) 311 from Imphal in Manipur to Saigang.

is North Eastern India still a permit controlled area or is travel there free now?

[belg]

why not construct a high speed train, ah yeah, the chinese already came up with that idea

let's build a highway, so pollution can raise a bit more the already dirty air

[Baerboxer]

And on which side of the road should we drive?

Aussie, India, Thailand and UK all drive on the correct side of the road !!

[Baerboxer]

The Indians should focus on improving their own infrastructure and underclass problems first. If they plan to build a highway anything like the road from Delhi to Agra it would be a laugher. The road to Agra (the Taj Majal destination) makes India look like a country not to be taken seriously.

Very true. Just read an article on child starvation in India. Something that seems to be getting worse despite India's increased gdp and the fact India is producing more and more food. Again, corruption, bureauocracy and the fact that no one cares about the tribals and lower classes taints modern India.

India's infrastructure development also suffers from severe corruption and this shows in both speed and quality of the development.

[mithunonthenet]

The Indians should focus on improving their own infrastructure and underclass problems first. If they plan to build a highway anything like the road from Delhi to Agra it would be a laugher. The road to Agra (the Taj Majal destination) makes India look like a country not to be taken seriously.

When was the last time you were in India? Anyway, next time you want to go from Delhi to Agra, you'll have to take this six-lane expressway: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yamuna_Expressway . It's no "laugher".

[LAKRA]

India has been negotiating with Bangladesh to have direct access through it to connect to its Northeastern states and thereby saving a huge amount in transport costs. The Indian government is aware of the importance of the north eastern states complaint that they are being left behind in the economic progress and politically if they are ignored; could be disastrous for them. To forestall any negativity from Bangladesh; I see this as an opportunity to use the narrow corridor north of Bangladesh through to Upper Assam (already serviced by broad gauge trains) and thence to Myanamar. The roads are there, albeit narrow but could be broadened into a highway and would provide massive employment for the northeasterners. The only problem is going through Nagaland, where the question of security arises. If India manages to create this highway through Myanamar and through to Thailand it would be fantastic but I think 2016 is a bit optimistic.

[Payboy]

A $500 million budget in India translates to a $50 million road.

[finnomick1]

And on which side of the road should we drive?

In Thailand I'd have thought the answer would have been:- BOTH. The Thai drivers seem to be well advanced in this system already.