India’s Kaladan project in Rakhine State will be restarted soon after it was suspended in the wake of the war that broke out in the state two years ago.

The Rakhine State Administrative Council or state government said that Myanmar has had a bilateral agreement with the Indian government to upgrade the existing Sittway port, revamping it from a port that is used for trade between the two countries to an international trading port as a part of their strategic Kaladan project.

This new port will be opened soon and the remaining parts of this project will be developed.

The Kaladan project started in 2011 with the building of ports and a waterway in Rakhine State capital city Sittway and Paletwa in Chin State and also the road connecting Paletwa and Mizoram State in India is being built as a part of this project.

Under this project, the agricultural produce and seafood from Rakhine State will be transported to India by sea-going vessels from this port and the new roads will be built so that it will benefit Myanmar and also it can create job opportunities for the local people.

However, some local residents are worrying about losing their livelihoods after completion of the project as they are using small boats and vessels in this Kaladan River – which will see the movement of large vessels and restrictions on passage - besides the concern over the impact on the environment including fish stocks.

Currently the project of building Sittway and Paletwa deep-sea ports have been completed but the 109.2 Km-road connecting Paletwa and Myeikwa on the Indo-Myanmar border is still under construction.

Rakhine Administrative Council spokesman and State Advocate General Hla Thein said that the upgrading of Sittway port in this Kaladan project to international port from the current bilateral trading port was to enable trade with regional countries.

A local businessman said that the State could enjoy many benefits if the Sittway port became an international trading port and hub but they had to wait and see how much this port could handle the international trade effectively.

India media reported that according to the India intelligence reports the Arakan Army (AA) had foothold along the border in Mizoram State of India with some of their bases.

But some opined that the project road connecting Mizoram State in India through Chin State would be subject to security problems as the situation in Chin State had been drastically changed after the coup by the junta, though there was an agreement for a temporary ceasefire with the AA