Amid all troubles engineered by an unstable soio-political situation in Myanmar/ Burma (or Brahmadesh as it also known), India is looking at commissioning the ambitious Kaladan riverine project connecting a port in Rakhine/Arakan State with the land-locked north-eastern States for regular trading. Agreed officially between New Delhi and Naypyitaw in 2008, the Kaladan Multi-Modal Transit Transport Corridor Project was initiated under India’s then Look East Policy and later revamped as Act East Policy. Sittwe port in the Bay of Bengal is supposed to receive shipment from Kolkata, Chennai and other international ports and then it will be sailed through Kaladan river to Paletwa in Chin State of Myanmar. Then the goods will be shifted to land routes and transited to Zorinpui in Mizoram border (finally to connect other important localities in eastern India with National Highway 54).
However, the project now faces hurdles from security challenges due to the changing political situation which has lately surfaced like a civil war like situation in this neighbouring southeast Asian country. Even though modernisation of Sittwe port and Paletwa jetty have been already completed, the Paletwa- Zorinpui highway (around 100 kilometer) remains under construction. Initially planned to launch by 2014, the project with a budget of Rs 536 crore in 2008 (work started in 2010) now crosses Rs 3,200 crore because of perennial delays and another deadline missed in 2023. A new dateline is set for July 2025, even though it will be difficult to get it realised unless the Union government in New Delhi comfortably deals with the powerful ethnic armed group Arakan Army (AA), which had recently captured Paletwa after defeating the ruling military junta. Sittwe, the capital of Arakan State, however remains under full control of the military dictators, even though the port city continues facing offensives from the anti-junta armed fighters.
Not just Rakhine State and the nearby Chin State, which share borders with India’s northeastern states like Tripura and Mizoram, but the entire country of Myanmar is now in chaos. In recent months, the military junta has been losing control of many areas to resistance forces, who have been supported by many ordinary Burmese citizens carrying weapons. Right now, the Min Aung Hlaing-led junta controls only about 30% of Myanmar’s townships, while 25% of the country is in full conflict zones. The junta has lost 173 military battalion headquarters, two regional military commands, six command headquarters, six key military bases, and 742 frontline outposts to the revolutionary fighters. Additionally, armed militias have gained control over important routes linking the border towns with Bangladesh, India, Thailand, and China. The Arakan Army has taken control of 15 out of 17 townships, including many military bases and the junta’s important Western Command headquarters in Ann.
North-east shares an international border of 1,643 km with Myanmar and the border remains mostly porous, which has been used by the insurgents and smugglers since long back to put the region in a volatile situation from time and again. So New Delhi has eventually had to engage with both the junta and rebel groups with an aim to propagate the India-supported missions. Recently, some Burmese ethnic groups were even invited to New Delhi for preliminary interactions so that the relation with them improves. The meeting with Arakan Army representatives was reported as productive. Another round of discussions initiated by India’s foreign ministry officials was organized in Bangkok.
Indian Ambassador in Yangon Abhay Thakur along with other responsible officials visited Sittwe on 16-17 January and reviewed ongoing operations at the port. The junta-sponsored newspaper Global New Light of Myanmar reported that since its inauguration on 4 May 2023, Sittwe port has managed over 150 cargo vessels, primarily carrying food items, agriculture commodities, medicines, machinery parts, construction materials, fuel, etc. Ambassador Thakur also met with Rakhine State chief minister U Htein Lin and discussed the matters related to bilateral development cooperation, capacity building and humanitarian assistance. Thakur highlighted the importance of an early return to peace and stability, which would pave the way for exploiting the full potential of the Kaladan project.
Until the dust settles in western Myanmar, it seems to be difficult to complete and commission the Kaladan project and till then the land-locked region along with its beneficiaries needs to wait for the golden moment.
