Neighbours with benefits

The Kaladan project has been stalled for years because of the civil war, but there is now optimism that it will resume soon, as India has been able to convince the Myanmar military and the Arakan Army about its importance

- RAJEEV BHATTACHARYYA

Not many Indians are familiar with Paletwa, a town in western Myanmar, just over 100km from the Mizoram border. Paletwa has been the site of intense battles in Myanmar's ongoing civil war, where the military junta was engaged in a fierce conflict with the Arakan Army.

The Arakan Army has made significant strides in establishing a de facto independent territory in Rakhine state and southern Chin State, governing over a population of more than two and a half million. Earlier this year, it captured Paletwa, located in the neighbouring Chin state, by seizing junta bases and command centres.

For India, it posed a major strategic challenge, as Paletwa is a vital cog in the Kaladan Multi-Modal Transit Transport Project (KMTTP), a critical connectivity initiative aimed at linking India's landlocked northeast with the country's mainland and countering China's growing influence in the region.

The project had been stalled for years due to the civil war, but there is now optimism that it will resume soon, as India has been able to convince the Myanmar military and Arakan Army about its importance. The KMTTP project will connect Kolkata port to Sittwe port in Myanmar's Rakhine (Arakan) state via the Bay of Bengal. An inland waterway will link Sittwe to Paletwa, and a road will extend further from Paletwa to Zorinpui in Mizoram.

While most components of the project are complete-such as the construction of Sittwe port, a river terminal at Paletwa, and the dredging of the 158-kilometre stretch of the Kaladan River-the Paletwa-Zorinpui highway is awaiting construction.

Five firms in Myanmar, including one affiliated to the government, have set up a consortium to build the 109km highway. The consortium has signed an agreement with the Indian Railway Construction Company (IRCON), which bagged the contract from the Indian government nearly two years ago.