The President of India, Ram Nath Kovind, the Vice President, M. Venkaiah Naidu and the Prime Minister, Narendra Modi with the ASEAN Heads of State/Governments, their spouses and Secretary General to mark the 25th year of the ASEAN-India partnership, at Rashtrapati Bhavan, in New Delhi on January 25. (PIB Photo)
The timely completion India-Myanmar-Thailand Trilateral Highway (IMT) will not only boosts economic growth, but help balance China’s expansion policy
Dr Caroline Maninee
BRICS International Forum
One cannot but congratulate, at the outset, the Prime Minister of India Narendra Modi for scoring a diplomatic coup this Republic Day. In a first, India will be witnessing the highest number of Chief Guests at one go for the Republic Day parade.
Prime Minister Modi grasped the right opportunity at the 15th ASEAN-India Summit by extending invitation leaders of 10 member states that constitutes the Association of Southeast Asian Nations.
“I look forward to receiving you at the India-ASEAN Special Commemorative Summit on January 25, 2018, in New Delhi. The 1.25 billion people of India are keen to welcome the ASEAN Leaders as our Chief Guests at India’s 69th Republic Day Celebrations,” he said.
The Chief Guests are - Joko Widodo, President of Indonesia; Lee Hseing Loong, Prime Minister of Singapore; Nguyen Xuan Phuc, Prime Minister of the Republic of Vietnam; Dato’ Sri Mohammad Najib bin Tun Abdul Razak, Prime Minister of Malaysia; General Prayut Chan-o-cha, Prime Minister of Thailand; Aung San Suu Kyi, State Counsellor of Myanmar; Rodrigo Duterte, President of Philippines; Haji Hassanal Bolkiah Muizzaddin Waddaulah, Sultan of Brunei; Thongloun Sisoulith Prime Minister of Laos; and Hun Sen , Prime Minister of Cambodia.
It is to be noted that though President Sukarno of Indonesia, was the first South East Asian leader to be the Chief Guest at India’s first Republic Day, so far only five others have attended the celebrations.
The ASEAN-India relation has come a long way from a sectoral partner in 1992 to a dialogue partner in 1996, thereafter, cementing to a summit-level partner in 2002 and a strategic partner in 2012. The year 2017 marks the 25 years of ASEAN-India dialogue partnership.
In this context, the speech by India’s Minister of External Affairs of India Sushma Swaraj at the 9th edition of Delhi Dialogue on July 4 to 5, 2017, highlighting the importance of ‘connectivity, commerce and culture’ need to be emphasized.
However, it is crucial to point out that North-East (NE) India, viewed as “the gateway to Southeast Asia,” is a landlocked region and the road transport is the only means of communication for development of the region.
It is here that the quality of road, in terms of durability and elasticity, are pertinent to create ‘good’ physical connectivity within the region itself, between the region and the rest of India as well as with the ASEAN countries.
The Economic Times quoting The Thai Ambassador to India Chutintorn Gongsakdi has reported that the ‘construction on the Thailand side has been completed on the India-Myanmar-Thailand Trilateral Highway, and are waiting for India to finish road construction in Myanmar.’
The Indian Ministry of External Affairs reported that the highway connecting Moreh in the North-eastern state of Manipur with Mae Sot in Thailand will be completed in 2019.
Yet, at present, the condition of many roads in Northeast, especially the National Highway passing through Nagaland and Manipur, are pitiable at best, leading on to ask whether the promise for quality roads in the region would be fulfilled by 2019.
If one is travelling by flight to reach this destination one will not understand the pathetic condition of the road, but if one is travelling by road, the roads are not only congested but dusty and bumpy that once one reached their destination, one feels sick and exhausted that one dreads to take the next journey. Rainy seasons are worst off with landslides, huge craters, potholes, etc.
The Governments incharge should focus on repairing and maintenance should be completed during dry seasons, and the technology used here should be upgraded if needed.
Improving physical connectivity will not only accelerate ASEAN-India physical connectivity and boosts economic growth but it will help to balance China’s expansion policy through roads and railways not only in South East Asia but near our borders, e.g. The Doklam.
The stakeholders from Northeast India should also participate in the Commemorative Summit which is based on “Shared Values, Common Destiny” and other follow-ups, be it- academic conferences, business events and cultural festivals to get better dividends for the region and India as a whole.
In conclusion, paraphrasing the words of former Foreign Secretary, ‘Ministry of External Affairs cannot do the work alone and there should be proper coordination not only with Ministry of Road Transport but between the Central Government and State Government’ to finish the work by next year as promised in paper.
