WHY NORTHEAST-KOLKATA LINK VIA MYANMAR — NOT BANGLADESH — IS SIGNIFICANT

THE CONTEXT: The Kaladan Multi-Modal Transit Transport Project (KMMTTP) and the proposed Shillong-Silchar highway represent India’s strategic pivot to connect its Northeastern states to Kolkata via Myanmar, bypassing Bangladesh amid strained bilateral ties following the ouster of Sheikh Hasina in August 2024. Approved by the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH) in 2025, the 166.8-km four-lane highway aims to integrate with the KMMTTP, reducing reliance on the vulnerable Siliguri Corridor.

THE BACKGROUND:

• • India’s Northeast, comprising eight states, is geographically isolated, connected to mainland India via the 20-km-wide Siliguri Corridor, often called the “Chicken’s Neck.”
  • This narrow strip, bordered by Nepal, Bhutan, and Bangladesh, poses economic and security challenges, with logistics costs 20% higher than the national average (NITI Aayog, 2025).
  • Pre-Partition, the Northeast accessed ports like Chattogram (Bangladesh) seamlessly, but post-1947 geopolitics restricted routes. The KMMTTP, signed in 2008 with Myanmar, aims to link Kolkata to Mizoram via Sittwe port, reducing travel distance by 1,000 km and time by 3–4 days.
  • The Shillong-Silchar highway, sanctioned in 2025, extends this corridor to Assam and Meghalaya, enhancing infrastructure development. Strained India-Bangladesh relations, marked by Muhammad Yunus’s interim government’s anti-India rhetoric, underscore the urgency of this alternative route.

GENESIS AND ARCHITECTURE:

STRATEGIC, ECONOMIC AND DEVELOPMENTAL SIGNIFICANCE:

1. Strategic Diversification & Redundancy

• • • • Reduces the single-point vulnerability of the Siliguri Corridor – a long-identified Achilles’ heel in any Sino-Indian contingency.
      • Creates a dual-axis logistics grid when read with the India-Myanmar-Thailand Trilateral Highway (IMT-TH), forging a “loop” that integrates the Indo-Pacific with the Bay of Bengal.

2. Act East Policy & SAGAR (Security And Growth for All in the Region)

• • • • KMMTTP is explicitly flagged in the BIMSTEC Master Plan for Transport Connectivity 2022 as the Bay of Bengal’s flagship multimodal spine.
      • Gives operational content to the SAGAR doctrine by activating Sittwe as a future humanitarian-assistance hub during Bay of Bengal cyclones.

3. Economic Multiplier for the Northeast

• • • • Logistics cost on Mizoram–Kolkata route expected to fall by 30–40 per cent, per NHIDCL projections.
      • Opens a maritime outlet for bamboo, forest produce and potential green-hydrogen exports (Mizoram’s New & Renewable Energy Policy, 2024).

4. Geo-political Hedging

• • • • A hedge against any downturn in Dhaka–New Delhi ties—without negating Bangladesh-centric corridors under BBIN.
      • Counters the China–Myanmar Economic Corridor (CMEC) which seeks to reroute Yunnan’s trade to Kyaukpyu, just 90 km south of Sittwe.

THE CURRENT BOTTLENECKS:

GOVERNMENT RESPONSE SO FAR

• • Dedicated Kaladan Division inside Ministry of External Affairs (2023).
  • Tripartite Security Working Group (MEA–MHA–MOD) to synchronise border management and naval escort for Sittwe service.
  • PIB-announced Greenfield expressway Shillong-Silchar (NH-6) on Hybrid Annuity Mode to sync with PM Gati Shakti digital platform.
  • IRCON’s clause 17(b) allows deadline extension for “war, riots, civil disorder”, recognising on-ground volatility.

THE WAY FORWARD:

• • Negotiated Security Guarantees: Craft a tripartite Memorandum of Understanding (GoI – State Administration Council – AA) with ASEAN observers to ring-fence corridor zones as “civilian logistics areas”, modelled on the Thailand-Myanmar “friendship bridge” accords.
  • Community-led Corridor Management: Utilize Community Contracting (World Bank toolkit) for last-mile maintenance—aligns the incentives of Chin and Mizo villagers, ensuring grassroots stake.
  • Dual-Use Digital Infrastructure: Lay an optical fibre duct alongside the road under BharatNet Phase-III, supporting drone-based asset monitoring and providing telecom backup for disaster relief.
  • Carbon-Neutral Logistics: Mandate electric line-haul trucks on the Shillong–Silchar expressway, equipped with battery-swap stations, and leverage the PLI scheme for EVs; offset emissions from river dredging.
  • Multilateral Finance Pool: Invite the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) and the Asian Development Bank (ADB) under a “BIMSTEC Connectivity Bond” – this reduces sole-risk exposure and embeds transparency conditionalities.
  • Legal and Institutional Reform: Fast-track the Proposed Land Ports Authority of India (Amendment) Bill, 2025 to empower integrated Check-Posts like Zorinpui with single-window electronic clearance.

THE CONCLUSION:

Kaladan is not merely a road-cum-river project; it is connectivity statecraft. For India, the corridor hedges geopolitical risk, unleashes economic energy in the Northeast and anchors the Bay of Bengal as the fulcrum of its Indo-Pacific strategy. Completion now demands a calibrated blend of hard power (security guarantees), soft power (community engagement) and smart power (green, digital, multilateral finance).

UPSC PAST YEAR QUESTION:

Q. Inland waterways can be a game-changer for India’s logistics. Critically examine. 2023

MAINS PRACTICE QUESTION:

Q. Analyse the Kaladan Multi-Modal Transit Transport Project (KMMTTP) significance for India’s Act East Policy and its North-East development agenda.

SOURCE:

https://indianexpress.com/article/explained/why-northeast-kolkata-link-via-myanmar-not-bangladesh-is-significant-10012402/