KALADAN NEWS

Dated-25/12/02

BANGLADESH STAND BY MYANMAR FOR CONSTRUCTION OF ASIAN HIGHWAY

Chittagong, December 25, 2002: If the tangle over the

Asian Highway is not resolved immediately Bangladesh

should stand by Myanmar regarding the following

confusing matters with all her available resources,

said in the Daily Star on December 22, said in the

Daily Star.

In this regard, building a bridge over the Naaf River

should get precedence over any other similar project

inside the country, it further added.

A highway and a railway-connecting south Asia and

southeast - Asia will certainly change the

socio-economic and geo-political scenario of the two

regions in a dramatic way. From any logical point of

view that should go through the south of Bangladesh

via the Chittagong-Teknaf-Sittwe-Thaton-Chiang Mai-

Bangkok and then dawn up to Kuala Lumpur-Singapore

convergence, said the Daily Star.

But, ESCAP has been pressing hard from the beginning

to build the Asian Highway and the Trans   Asian

Railway proposing a route that would enter Bangladesh

from a point in West Bengal and go through

Sylhet---Tamabeel towards the Indian border town of

Moreh in Manipur and then to Myanmar border town of

Kelewa on the other side. There after it will go all

the way dawn the highlands of Myanmar to Thaton and

enter Thailand through Mayawadi covering an additional

distance of more than 1,000 miles, F.A Guarishi said

in Daily Star.

Evidently, this route suggested by ESCAP, if

implemented, shall deprive Bangladesh from having

direct access to the South East. This will make Moreh

in Manipur the route focus between the South and South

East Asia, depriving Teknaf, the natural candidate for

the same. This will be an irreversible system

distortion making Bangladesh a mere corridor for

transit and transhipment. Her geo-political nodality

in the regional setting shall be damaged for all time

to come, he further added.

At a meeting of the foreign ministers of the three

countries, India, Myanmar and Thailand held in Yangon

on April 7, early this year, agreement had already

been reached to develop a 1,600 km road over Myanmar

linking Moreh of India and Mae sot of Thailand. As a

pert of that Thailand has agreed to provide a

low-interested long-term loan towards construction of

a 238 km stretch of the road in eastern Myanmar. On

the other hand, the road link between Moreh and Kelewa

has already been developed, funded by India, he

further said.

Protagonists of the Sylhet-Manipur route for the Asian

Highway used to tell Bangladesh that building road

connecting via Teknaf is not possible because of, what

they maintained, the inaccessible mountain range

standing its way. Bangladesh was also told that that

the Myanmar was not interested in this route, said in

the Daily Star.

Belying all those assertions Myanmar has already

developed the road link between Yangoon and

Sittwe(Akyab) and is said to be looking for funds

upgrade it, it further added.

Editor

Kaladan Press Network