Around 70 Percent Work On India-Myanmar-Thailand Trilateral Highway Completed: Nitin Gadkari

Union Minister Of Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari said that around 70 per cent construction work on the ambitious India-Myanmar-Thailand Trilateral Highway has been completed. "Around 70 per cent work of the project is completed," the minister of Road Transport & Highways told PTI in reply to a question on the progress of the project. All the three countries - India, Thailand and Myanmar - are working on the highway that will connect Moreh in Manipur, India with Mae Sot in Thailand via Myanmar.

The India-Thailand-Myanmar highway is a 1,400-km-long road project that would directly link the countries with each other and also the Southeast Asia by land and give a boost to trade, business, health, education and tourism ties among the three countries.

While the strategic highway project has been delayed, Nitin Gadkari did not provide details on the timeline for completion and operationalisation of the trilateral highway. Earlier, the government was aiming to make the highway operational by December 2019.

During Myanmar President U. Htin Kyaw’s state visit to India in August 2016, an MoU was signed with the Government of India. Under the MoU, India will fund the construction of 69 bridges, including approach roads in the Tamu-Kyigone-Kalewa section (149.70 km).

India also provided funding for the renovation of 73 bridges along the route in Myanmar that were originally built during World War II.