Indian officials visit Myanmar to activate Kaladan multi-modal project, strengthen security ties

04 October 2020
Indian officials visit Myanmar to activate Kaladan multi-modal project, strengthen security ties
Indian Army Chief General Manoj Mukund Naravane addresses a press conference in New Delhi, India. Photo: EPA

Indian Army chief General MM Naravane and foreign secretary Harsh Shringla are set to arrive in Naypyidaw on Sunday to seal the much-awaited coastal shipping agreement to activate the Kaladan multi-modal project and cement security ties against insurgent groups, according to Hindustan Times.

The newspaper says Gen Naravane and Shringla will meet Senior General Min Aung Hlaing and State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi, rare incoming foreign visitors before the November 8 elections in Myanmar.

The highlight of the two-day visit will be the coastal shipping agreement that will allow Indian ships to reach Mizoram via Sittwe Port on the Bay of Bengal and through the Kaladan river multi-modal link. This project has been hanging fire for the past 20 years when it was envisaged by the Atal Bihari Vajpayee government, according to the report.

India and Myanmar also look set to discuss strengthening security ties by making the India-Myanmar border impenetrable to the anti-India insurgents and drug smugglers.

A large number of anti-India insurgents are based across the Moreh border in Manipur and across Vijayanagar salient in Arunachal Pradesh. The anti-India insurgents are armed with Chinese weapons with their leaders like Paresh Baruah of the ULFA based in Ruili in Yunnan province of China.