India, Burma to open alternate trade route

Burma (also known as Myanmar) has signed an agreement giving India the right to upgrade a port in the Bay of Bengal, which would be used to support trade with northwestern India, according to news reports.

The $120 million project will allow India to develop a multimodal transit facility at the Sittwe port on the Kaladan River. Goods will be transported to and from India by road and river.

India will also deepen the Kaladan river to make it navigable all the way up to India's Mizoram state, build a 117-kilometer road on the India side to the border, and upgrade road connections from the rest of India to Mizoram. The agreement allows states in landlocked northeastern India access to the sea and southeastern Asia by bypassing transit through Bangladesh, which the government there has blocked.

The project is expected to be commissioned in 2011-2012, according to India's Assam Tribune.

Both sides also agreed to take steps to open up existing border points in India's northeastern states for regular trade.

India's investment conflicts with international efforts to isolate the Myanmar government because of its violent crackdown on pro-democracy demonstrators last year. 

Source: American Shipper