"A proposed railway line from Kunming in China to two ports in Myanmar — close to the India-funded Sittwe port — is being closely watched by India amid the Centre’s plans to connect corridors in the Bay of Bengal region as part of its Indo-Pacific strategy. China Railway Eryuan Engineering Group Co (CREEC) recently launched a survey for the Muse-Mandalay-Kyaukphyu railway line, part of the China–Myanmar Economic Corridor (CMEC) and the larger Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) in the region, EThas learnt from people familiar with the developments. In October, Myanmar signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) for the project, expected to be one of the largest road-and-railway projects in the Southeast Asian country that shares both a land and maritime boundary with India. The project involves building a high-speed railway line from Kunming to Muse on the Myanmar-China border and from there on to Mandalay, terminating in Kyaukphyu port in Rakhine province. A railway line from the same corridor will branch out to Yangon port, one of the people told ET. China is said to view the project to connect the Kyaukphyu Special Economic Zone and the deep water port in Myanmar as something that would benefit both countries under the larger CMEC umbrella. Local politicians say the project could turn out to be a second ‘Hambantota’ and China could take over the ports in future if Myanmar does not earn sufficient revenue from it..."