Maritime routes for northeast

Two maritime routes developed by India to connect northeast with the rest of the country with transit through Bangladesh and Myanmar have triggered hopes of region becoming the centre stage of a new growth story in India.North-eastern states joining hands for impressing upon the central government to take up with two neighbouring countries the issue of fast tracking the construction work can remove the bottlenecks and push these connectivity projects. The news of Kaladan Multimodal Transit Transport project nearing completion on Indian side has not blown away the cloud of uncertainty over completion of the long-delayed connectivity project through Myanmar by the revised deadline of 2023. Actual operationalisation of the project will depend on progress of 110km stretch of road through Myanmar that will connect Paletwa in the neighbouring country with Zorinpui on Mizoram border. India has completed constructing the Sittwe port in the Western coast of Myanmar as part of the project which will be connected to Haldia port in West Bengal through Bay of Bengal. The Sittwe port will be linked through Kaladan river along 158km river channel to Paletwa and then on subsequent 110km road to Zorinpui. Political turmoil in Myanmar since the Military Coup that led to the country's military power seizing government control has further delayed the progress of the project initially targeted to complete by 2014. Ever since access of India's Northeast region to the sea was snapped, the landlocked condition has also been limiting imagination of most people of the region to look at things beyond the international borders. The two routes will significantly cut the travel time and distance between the northeast region and rest of Indiaopening up huge opportunities of trade and commerce. India's Act East Policy and Neighbourhood First policy and multilateral engagement under the Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multilateral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC) and BBIN (Bangladesh, Bhutan India Nepal) provide the policy framework for developing and operationalising the two routes. India has built a deep-water port at Sittwe in Myanmar and connect it to the Kaladan multimodal transport and transit project for connecting the northeast region through Mizoram-Myanmar border with Kolkata port. Another route that will provide seamless maritime connectivity through seaports in Bangladesh is the Kolkata-Chittagong which has road connectivity with Sabroom in Tripura across Feni river flowing by Tripura-Bangladesh border. Smooth completion of a trial run of a container ship from Kolkata to Agartala in 2020 demonstrated the viability of the route. Operationalisation of the route will end dependence only on the narrow Siliguri corridor known as Chicken's Neck and provide alternative and shorter route to northeast from rest of India. Apart from connectivity between the northeast region and the rest of India, the access to seaports will unlock the huge export potential of the states in the region. Bangladesh has been showing interest in facilitating transit through its territory because it is a win-win situation for both the country as India will be using Bangladeshi vessels and trucks for moving the Indian cargo thereby generating employment, livelihood, and revenue generation in the neighbouring country.United Nations General Assembly's resolution for graduating Bangladesh from the group of Least Develop Country to the group of Developing Country has added a new dimension to India-Bangladesh relations. Bangladesh, Nepal will officially become developing countries in 2026 with the UN granting five years instead of usual three years in view of COVID-19 pandemic disruption over the past years. For the region to derive optimal benefits from operationalisation of the transit through Bangladesh and Myanmar it must have all weather roads and improved railway connectivity in the region to facilitate smooth movement of cargo and passenger traffic once the multimodal connectivity projects are fully operationalised. The Parliamentary Standing Committee on Transport observed that even though the Ministry of Road Transport has initiated a number of road construction projects in the region, the ministry failed to fully utilise the budget allocated for the region in the last five financial years and an amount of Rs 3051 crore was left unutilised during 2020-21. The committee expressed the view that "road transport plays a critical role in facilitating movement of export traffic and providing last mile connectivity due to the geographical terrain of the region which is largely dominated by hilly or mountainous area." These road projects are crucial for the northeast region and hence state governments have larger responsibility of playing pro-active roles in monitoring the progress of these projects and facilitating timely completion and full utilisation of allocated fund. Developing export hubs in the region fully equipped with all infrastructure support and well connected to the maritime routes is the need of the hour. Informing the people about the progress of the projects through the neighbouring countriescan make them realise that northeast is no longer a landlocked region.