India Looking For Ways To Get The Much-Delayed India-Myanmar-Thailand Trilateral Highway Going

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar acknowledged that the India-Myanmar-Thailand Trilateral Highway has faced significant challenges due to the situation in Myanmar. However, he emphasised that the government is committed to finding solutions and resuming the project.

Jaishankar tweeted this morning (16 July): "Met H.E. U Than Swe on the sidelines of the Mekong Ganga Cooperation (MGC) meeting in Bangkok today.

"Our discussions focused on connectivity initiatives that have a larger regional significance. These will also be discussed at the MGC meeting this afternoon. Stressed the importance of expediting projects that have faced challenges in the recent past, especially the India-Myanmar-Thailand trilateral highway."

Jaishankar is in Bangkok to participate in the 12th Foreign Ministers’ Meeting of the MGC Mechanism and attend the BIMSTEC Foreign Ministers’ Retreat.

“...It has been a very difficult project. It has been a very difficult project mainly because of the situation in Myanmar. And one of our priorities today is to find ways of how to resume this project, how to unlock it, and how to make it because large parts of the project have been built,” he said.

India, Thailand, and Myanmar are collaborating on a 1,400-km-long highway that will connect the countries and enhance trade, business, healthcare, education, and tourism links in the region.

Approximately 70 per cent of the construction work for the India-Myanmar-Thailand Trilateral Highway has been finished. This highway will establish a connection between Moreh in Manipur, India, and Mae Sot in Thailand via Myanmar.

Initially, the government aimed to make the highway operational by December 2019. Unfortunately, the strategic highway project has experienced delays.