Trilateral Highway moves forward
India’s provision of $500 million in financing assistance to Myanmar last year to expedite work on the Trilateral Highway project that will connect India, Myanmar, and Thailand gave the project a much-needed boost. This 3,200 km highway that cuts across the length of Myanmar to link Mae Sot in Thailand on its eastern border to Moreh in India on its western border has been in the works for over a decade. Once complete, the highway is expected to boost trade in the Southeast Asian region.
Though there was some progress in its initial years, the project had been stalled since 2006 due to a lack of political commitment and funding, which could largely be attributed to Myanmar’s political isolation. However, 6 years later, the project has begun to pick up momentum, thanks to the launch of democratic reforms in Myanmar in August 2011. The top leaders of the three nations are now committed to completing the project by 2016.
Key milestones and current status
The project is particularly significant due to the geographical locations of the three countries and their trading relationships with one another. Myanmar shares a 1,463 km land border with India in the west and a 1,800 km border with Thailand in the east. Moreover, Thailand and India are Myanmar’s primary export partners with respective shares of 36.7 per cent and 14.1 per cent. In addition, Thailand is also Myanmar’s primary import partner, accounting for 22.6 per cent of the latter’s imports.
The project was conceived at the Trilateral Ministerial Meeting on Transport Linkages in Yangon in 2002 by the six member countries – India, Thailand, Myanmar, Cambodia, Laos, and Vietnam – as part of the Mekong Ganga Cooperation (MGC). In signing the MGC later in Vientiane, Laos, the countries sought to promote cooperation in tourism, culture, education, and transportation linkages. The project was envisioned as part of the East–West Economic Corridor that would link India with Myanmar, Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, and Vietnam.
According to the Economic Research Institute for ASEAN and East Asia (ERIA), the original route of the Trilateral Highway was along the Asian (and ASEAN) Highway No.1. ERIA’s latest report on this project indicates that the infrastructure on the Thai side of the border is ready for connection with its counterparts in Myanmar and north-eastern India when the latter is completed. In particular, the report identified two incomplete sections – the stretches between Thingannyinaung and Kawkareik (near the Thai border) and between Chaung U and Kalay (a section between Mandalay and the Indian border) – as being critical to the project’s progress.
One of the major challenges which has caused project delays is that the exact route for the Trilateral Highway within Myanmar has not yet been finalised, although some sections have been approved. An ASEAN– India connectivity report summarises the reasons for the delays as limitations on the investigation and survey of project sites, data unavailability, and the accessibility of related maps. Further, the Trilateral Highway route identified by the Myanmar government has several missing links: while some stretches are village-to-village tracks, others are just barren land. The table provides details of the road condition of the Trilateral Highway in Myanmar between Myawaddy and Tamu.
The first phase involves the development of 78 km of new roads and upgradation of about 400 km of roads and associated approach lanes, the rehabilitation of bridges, etc. Apart from funding the roads and new builds for the project in their countries, the Indian and Thai governments have provided concessional funding to Myanmar for the construction and upgradation of an approximately 260 km of roads across various segments in Myanmar. In addition, the Myanmar government is also upgrading intermediate roads (see box for details).
Political commitment
In 2012, the project received strong support from the highest levels of government of the three nations. An India–Myanmar– Thailand Joint Task Force Meeting on the Trilateral Highway Project was held in New Delhi, India, in September 2012 to reiterate the individual countries’ commitment to making the necessary efforts to establish trilateral connectivity by 2016. The task force also discussed the extension of the highway to the Mekong region nations, thus forming an India–Myanmar–Laos– Vietnam–Cambodia highway. Moreover, it was agreed to initiate steps to harmonise customs and immigration procedures at border checkposts to facilitate the seamless movement of goods and people. As of November 2012, the route alignments on the extension of the Trilateral Highway and the proposed new highway to Vietnam are still being finalised.
At the ASEAN–India commemorative summit held in New Delhi, India, in December 2012, the Vision Statement released by the parties involved contained the following extract: “We are committed to assisting in the completion of the India–Myanmar– Thailand Trilateral Highway and its extension to Lao PDR and Cambodia and the new highway project connecting India– Myanmar–Lao PDR–Vietnam–Cambodia, as well as developing the Mekong–India Economic Corridor connecting Southeast Asia to South Asia on the eastern part of India, in order to add greater momentum to the growing trade and investment linkages between ASEAN and India.”
Promising but uncertain future
While political support has put the project back on track, its success depends on the commitment of funds, availability of human and technical resources, and the participating countries’ capacities to execute it. The harmonisation of customs and immigration laws will also be needed. Only time will tell whether the project is able to deliver on its promised prosperity to the three countries.
