Aizawl: Prime Minister Narendra Modi has called on Myanmar’s coup leader-turned-president Min Aung Hlaing to accelerate the long-delayed Kaladan Multi-Modal Transit Transport Project (KMMTTP), which connects Myanmar’s Sittwe port with Mizoram. The appeal came during Min Aung Hlaing’s ongoing visit to India from May 30 to June 3, as per a joint statement released on Tuesday.
Project Status and Challenges
Construction of the Sittwe port in Rakhine State and a terminal in Paletwa township in southern Chin State has been completed. However, the 109-kilometer road from Paletwa to the Indian border remains stalled due to armed conflict, instability, and logistical hurdles. Except for Sittwe, most of the project area inside Myanmar, including Paletwa, has fallen under the control of the Arakan Army (AA), which is fighting the military regime.
India's Strategic Initiative
The KMMTTP is a flagship initiative under India’s Act East Policy. While the 109-kilometer stretch between Paletwa and the Indian border village in Mizoram remains incomplete, the 100-kilometer Lawngtlai-Zorinpui highway connecting the border crossing to India’s existing road network has already been finished.
Myanmar serves as the primary transit host and sovereign partner for the project. India fully funds and manages the construction, which physically cuts through Myanmar’s territory to provide India with a strategic alternative route. Executed by India’s Ministry of External Affairs and IRCON International, the project has faced repeated delays due to turbulent politics in Myanmar’s Rakhine State and compensation disputes on the Mizoram side. Although parts of the route are operational, construction deadlines have been extended multiple times, with full operational viability now targeted between 2025 and 2027.
Arakan Army's Demands
Reports from Lawngtlai district indicate that the Arakan Army, recognizing the strategic importance of the international transport corridor, has been pressuring India’s Ministry of External Affairs to supply commodities, including chemical fertilizers, for farmers in Rakhine and southern Chin States.
Timeline and Expectations
Originally scheduled for completion in 2014, the project missed successive deadlines, including the revised target of December 2023. Both the central and Mizoram governments now expect the entire corridor to be fully operational by 2027.
