Sittwe Port is a Big Deal for India, Mizoram to India through Burma

· $484 million Kaladan Multi-Modal Transit Transport Project (KMTTP) funded under grant-in-aid assistance from the Indian government.

· Highway/road transport from Mizoram to Paletwa (Myanmar), thereafter from Paletwa to Sittwe (Myanmar) by Inland Water Transport (IWT) and from Sittwe to any port in India by maritime shipping, according to a statement.

· East coast of India to the north-eastern states through the Sittwe port. It will become an alternative

Sittwe port opens

India’s ports and shipping minister Sarbananda Sonowal and Myanmar's deputy PM Admiral Tin Aung San on Tuesday (09.05.2023) jointly inaugurated the Sittwe Port in the civil war-hit country and received the first Indian cargo ship. The ship was flagged off from Syama Prasad Mookerjee Port, Kolkata.

The Kaladan project

The Sittwe Port in Rakhine state has been developed as a part of the $484 million Kaladan Multi-Modal Transit Transport Project (KMTTP) funded under grant-in-aid assistance from the Indian government.

Significance

The project envisages highway/road transport from Mizoram to Paletwa (Myanmar), thereafter from Paletwa to Sittwe (Myanmar) by Inland Water Transport (IWT) and from Sittwe to any port in India by maritime shipping, according to a statement.

Strategic importance

Once fully operationalised the waterway and road components of KMTTP will link the east coast of India to the north-eastern states through the Sittwe port. It will become an alternative cargo transportation route between Mizoram and Haldia/ Kolkata or any Indian ports through the Kaladan river in Myanmar.

Currently, the narrow Siliguri corridor, also called the ‘Chicken’s Neck’, is the only passageway to the northeastern region from the mainland.

Benefits

With the development of Sittwe Port, the cost and time of transportation of goods between Kolkata and Agartala and Aizwal is expected to decrease by 50 percent.

India-Myanmar ties

India attaches importance to its relations with Myanmar as part of its ‘Act East’ policy. New Delhi has not openly condemned the country’s generals since the February 2021 military coup although it has appealed for cessation of violence and restoration of democracy in the Southeast Asian nation.

India also needs Myanmar’s cooperation to flush out some of the north eastern rebel groups, which are still operating from its soil.