KALADAN
PROJECT - INTERNATIONAL
News:
India’s Kaladan project
‘almost dead’ after Paletwa fell to Arakan Army: senior Myanmar Opposition
leader
What's
in the news?
●
One of India’s flagship connectivity
projects that was aimed at enhancing road and maritime connection with
Southeast Asia has faced a definite setback after an important town in Myanmar
was captured recently by a rebel group, a senior figure of Myanmar’s Opposition
has stated.
Kaladan
Multi-modal Transit Transport Project:
·
Kaladan Project would link India and Myanmar via the Bay of Bengal.
·
It was jointly identified by India and
Myanmar to create a multi-modal mode of transport for the shipment of cargo from the eastern ports of India to Myanmar as
well as to the North-Eastern part of India through Myanmar.
·
It is being constructed by India under the
Grant in Aid Scheme.
The
Project has Several Segments Combining Multi-modes of Transport:
·
Kolkata-Sittwe
shipping route – 539 km (335 mi) from the seaport of
Kolkata in India to the Sittwe seaport in Myanmar via the Bay of Bengal.
·
Sittwe
seaport to Paletwa inland jetty river boat route
– 158 km (98 mi) from Sittwe seaport to Inland Water Terminal (IWT) and
hydropower project at Paletwa jetty via Kaladan river in Myanmar.
·
Paletwa
inland jetty to Zorinpui road route in Myanmar –
62 km (39 mi) 4 lane road route from IWT Paletwa to
Zochawchhuah(India)-Zorinpui (Myanmar) at Indo-Myanmar border in Myanmar.
·
Zorinpui
to Aizawl Road route in India – 110 km (68 mi) from
the Indo-Myanmar border at Zorinpui to Aizawl.
·
From
Aizawl, it connects to Aizawl-Saiha National Highway at Lawngtlai in Mizoram,
India by road on National Highway 54 (NH-54), which then continues further to
Dabaka in Assam via NH-54 which in turn is part of the larger East-West
Corridor connecting North East India with the rest of India.
Significance
of the Project:
·
This multimodal transit route will serve
the strategic needs of the nation by providing easy accessibility to northeast
and southeast Asia as well.
·
It’s a major step towards the fulfillment
of Act East policy and regional integration as well.
·
As a result, the industrial development
and harnessing of tourism potential will help in socio-economic development and
employment generation
·
This project will further boost India’s
trade with the South East Region.
·
The project also serves as a counter to
Chinese expansion in the region as well.