You might have taken a flight to Bangkok before but in the near future, the Thai metropolis and an eastern Indian city will be joined by a road. Yes, you heard it right.
The Kolkata-Bangkok highway would be a significant transportation link which will strengthen closer ties between India and Thailand.
The massive project, which will involve several nations, has the potential to completely transform regional trade and transportation.
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Let’s take a closer look.
Kolkata-Bangkok highway
The construction of the Kolkata-Bangkok Highway marks a significant milestone in the efforts to enhance connectivity and strengthen trade relations between India and Thailand. A seamless connection to Thailand and India is the goal of the enormous project.
The Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC) project is the umbrella organisation for this highway project that would link Kolkata and Bangkok, according to News18.
According to reports, construction has already started on the project, and the suggested strategy is anticipated to significantly boost the country’s economy.
The trilateral highway project was put forward by then-Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee at a ministerial meeting between India, Myanmar, and Thailand in Yangon, Myanmar in April 2002. The project aimed at increasing trade between India and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), according to Swarajya.
The project’s long history
Swarajya magazine explains the 160-kilometre-long Indo-Myanmar Friendship Road (Moreh-Tamu-Kalewa-Kalemyo) construction project was taken on by India’s Border Roads Organisation (BRO), who maintained this route until 2009 in accordance with the bilateral agreement between India and Myanmar.
After that, all of the bridges along the road were to be upgraded in Myanmar, but it was unable to do so because of severe financial limitations. In May 2012, then-Manmohan Singh administration declared that India would spend $100 million (~Rs 8.192 billion) to turn the existing highway into a four-lane highway, and rebuild the stretch’s 71 bridges. However, this didn’t happen until Prime Minister Narendra Modi took office in 2014.
In August 2016, an MoU was signed between India and Myanmar stating that India will fund the construction of 69 bridges in the 146.28-kilometre stretch of the Tamu to Kalewa road. In November 2017, the upgradation of the 160-kilometre portion of the projected road was completed at a cost of $27.28 million (~Rs 2.293 billion). India allocated $256 million (~Rs 20.96 billion) in August 2017 to finish all outstanding work on the highway’s Myanmar sector.
Later, the Modi administration granted a $150 million (~Rs 12.28 billion) contract in September the same year to upgrade and maintain the highway’s Kalewa to Yar Gyi stretch (121.8 km). It also persuaded Thailand to provide funding for a 68-kilometre section of the Trilateral Highway in Myanmar that runs between Thaton (in the Mon state) and Ein Du (in the Kayin state).
Due to its unstable financial situation, Myanmar was having trouble upgrading the Thaton-Ein Du stretch. Thus, an MoU was signed in February 2017 stating that Thailand will upgrade this portion for $51 million (~Rs 4.178 billion). The project is now finished.
The India-Myanmar-Thailand Motor Vehicles Agreement is being signed as soon as possible, according to the Myanmar Commerce Minister. The agreement along with protocols for regulating and facilitating the movement of cargo and passenger vehicular traffic is under inter-governmental negotiations between India, Myanmar and Thailand, as per a press release.
The work on the Kalewa to Yar Gyi stretch, which has been the scene of heavy combat between rebels primarily from the Arakan Army, and soldiers of the Myanmarese regime, has been halted. According to the magazine, the Arakan Army was contacted by New Delhi during the Modi administration in order to obtain a promise from the rebel group that it would not obstruct the construction of the section of the Trilateral Highway that runs through the province of Sagaing.
The route
The complete highway would be approximately 2,800 kilometres long. While Thailand would have the shortest section of the roadway, India will have the longest.
The vast trilateral highway, which will reportedly begin in Bangkok and pass through Sukhothai, Mae Sot, Mandalay, Yangon, Kalewa, and Tamu in Myanmar, will also be said to pass through Bangkok. Kohima, Moreh, Srirampur, Guwahati, Kolkata, and Siliguri would also be included on the list of Indian cities that it will pass through. A total distance of 2,800 to 2,820 km will be traversed. Highways will reportedly have their longest stretch in India, according to reports. The shorter one will land in Thailand.
Boosting trade, tourism, and economic growth
It is anticipated that the trilateral highway will open up significant potential for improving and advancing travel convenience and transportation, as per Times Now.
It will drastically cut down on the time and expense of transporting products and commodities by building a direct and effective road link between India and Thailand. In the regions the highway passes through, this improved connection will promote bilateral trade, promote cross-border investments, and drive economic development.
The Kolkata-Bangkok Highway also has enormous potential for fostering travel and cultural connections between the nations it connects. It is projected that tourism between India and Thailand would increase as travel becomes more convenient and accessible, according to Free Press Journal. This route will make it easier to explore various topographies, historical landmarks, and cultural riches, promoting greater mutual understanding and appreciation between the two countries.
Also read: Nightmare of Indian Streets: When is it most risky to be on the road?
The opening
According to foreign ministers of trade who attended a business conference hosted by the Indian Chamber of Trade (ICC) and the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA), the trilateral highway will officially open in the next three to four years, reported News18.
According to Vijavat Isarabhakdi, vice minister of foreign affairs for Thailand, the majority of the project’s work has already been finished in Thailand.
Aung Naing Oo, the trade minister for Myanmar, said that the majority of the 1,512-kilometer highway in his nation is built and that the remaining sections should be finished in three years.
He told Swarajya that it will take time to convert a 121.8-kilometre section of the road between Kalewa and Yar Gyi into a four-lane motorway.
With inputs from agencies
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