Truce Between Myanmar Junta And Rebel Group Paves Way For Revival Of Crucial Indian Connectivity Project To Counter China

A truce between the Myanmar ruling military junta and the Arakan Army (AA) has paved the way for revival of the Kaladan Multi-Modal Transit Transport Project.

This project is central to India’s ‘Act East’ policy and New Delhi’s counter to China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). 

The Kaladan project will provide a direct route from Kolkata to Mizoram via Myanmar through sea, river and land routes. It will facilitate easier, faster and cheaper transportation of goods from Kolkata, Haldia and other ports like Paradip on India’s eastern seaboard to Mizoram, Manipur, Nagaland and southeastern Assam. 

But hostilities between the junta and the AA had resulted in suspension of work on the ambitious project at some places since the Myanmar military (called the ‘Tatmadaw’) seized power in a coup early last year. 

The AA had also targeted the Indian-sponsored project by trying to extort huge sums of money from the contractors executing the works, abducting personnel from site for ransom and even physically stopping works. 

New Delhi suspected a Chinese hand behind the AA’s actions (read this). That’s because the AA, which was fighting for greater autonomy of the Arakan people in restive Rakhine province of Myanmar, has very close links with the Kachin Independence Army (KIA) which is considered to be a surrogate of China. 

The Indian Army and the Tatmadaw have, in the past, launched coordinated operations on both sides of the border to target AA rebels as well as militants of Northeastern outfits sheltered in western Myanmar. 

But the AA has been resilient and since the coup in that country last year, had consolidated its position in Rakhine state. It had put its own administrative machinery and judiciary in place and was, for all practical purposes, running the Rakhine state that borders Bangladesh to its northwest. 

The AA also wields a lot of influence and controls large parts of the adjoining Chin state that borders Mizoram. 

The AA had, in the past, raided construction sites of the Kaladan project in the Chin and Rakhine states and destroyed costly equipment.

In November 2019, the rebel outfit abducted six Indian construction workers and engineers from a project site. India had secured their release later. 

The late-November ceasefire between the military junta and the AA, which has been brokered by The Nippon Foundation chairperson Yohei Sasakowa, comes after months of intense hostilities between the junta and the AA. 

The ceasefire is an immediate gain for India since work can resume on the multi-billion-dollar project right away. The AA is understood to have given a commitment not to disturb the project anymore and allow work to go ahead.

Immediately after the ceasefire, Indian consul Jay Krishna met junta-appointed Chief Minister of Rakhine state, Dr Aung Kyaw Min, for talks on resuming work on the Kaladan project.

At the meeting on 2 December, the two sides discussed the official opening of the Sittwe port and the river route through the Kaladan river from Sittwe and Kyauktaw to Paletwa in the Chin state. 

The two sides also discussed the modalities to resume work on an incomplete section of the two-lane, all-weather 109-kilometre long highway from Paletwa to Zorinpui (Mizoram) on the Indo-Myanmar border. 

The Rakhine state authorities reportedly assured full support for resuming the construction works. They have also obtained a commitment from the AA leadership that the rebel outfit will cooperate in early completion of the project that will bring immense benefits to the Rakhine and Chin provinces. 

India has been pushing the military junta to reach an understanding with the AA so that work on the Kaladan project can be resumed.

On 21 November, India’s foreign secretary Vinay Mohan Kwatra met junta chief Min Aung Hlaing at Myanmar’s capital Naypyidaw and discussed measures to be taken for swift implementation of the project. 

The Kaladan Project:

The first component of the Kaladan project--sea route covering 539 kilometres from Kolkata to Sittwe port that has been upgraded by India--is already operational.

The next part of the multi-modal project involves the 158 kilometres route from Sittwe sea port through the Kaladan river to Paletwa river port. India has built a hydro-power plant at Paletwa, dredged the Kaladan river and constructed a jetty there.

A special economic zone at Ponnagyun town, 60 kilometres north of Paletwa on the Kaladan river, is being developed by India. This is being projected as an exclusive export oriented zone that is expected to draw investments from India and other countries.

The last component of the Kaladan project is the 109 kilometre highway from Paletwa to Zorinpui in Mizoram on the India-Myanmar border.

It is this part of the project that has been mired in delays, thanks to the demands being made by the AA on contractors working on this road. An additional road to connect Paletwa to Asian Highway 1 is on the cards.

The entire project is critical to India’s ‘Act East’ policy that aims at seamless connectivity between India and through Northeast and Bangladesh landmass to Southeast Asia.

Once complete, this project will boost the stagnant economy of northeastern India and open up markets in Southeast Asia to goods and products of the northeast.

According to sources in the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA), work on the project is expected to resume by early January. The entire sea+river+land route can be operational before the middle of next year. 

This huge project was initiated 12 years ago but there was little movement on the ground till Narendra Modi took over as the Prime Minister and started taking a personal interest in its implementation. Work on this project was continuing at a snail’s pace under the previous UPA regime and picked up speed only after 2014. 

The Kaladan project will also be a huge boost for India’s image on the global stage.