India, Myanmar set out on road of cooperation

India, Myanmar set out on road of cooperation
RAKESH SINHA

KALE, MYANMAR, FEBRUARY 13: After years of little political contact, India today leap-frogged into a new relationship with Myanmar, returning to the Burma Road with a promise to work together on the basis of ``our own respective perceptions of areas of mutual benefit.''

External Affairs Minister Jaswant Singh, who was accorded a red-carpet welcome by the Myanmarese in the border towns of Tamu and Kale, joined Myanmar's Deputy Prime Minister Lt Gen. Tin Hla and Construction Minister Maj. Gen. Saw Tun in inaugurating the Tamu-Kalemyo-Kalewa Road in the country's north-western border with India.

Starting at Tamu on the India-Myanmar Border, this 160-km road passes through the Kabaw Valley and terminates at Kalewa on the western banks of the Chindwin River. Built by the Indian Border Roads Organisation (BRO) -- work on the road began in 1997 and construction material had to be hauled all the way from Dimapur in Nagaland -- the Tamu-Kalemyo-Kalewa stretch will become a vital section of the designated Asian highway from Singapore to Istanbul via Myanmar and India.

At the border town of Tamu, residents seemed ecstatic over the fact that the road to Kalewa had finally been thrown open. ``The journey to Kalewa used to take us two days. We can now be there in just two hours,'' summed up Major Maung Maung Aye, Secretary of the District Peace and Development Council.

Deputy Prime Minister Tin Hla, who also handles military affairs, said the Myanmarese were also working on a link road which would make it possible for people to motor down from the Indian border to Mandalay and beyond. ``This new road is bound to bring about economic development in the border areas,'' Tin Hla said.

The road ceremony apart, it was clear that Jaswant Singh had come to repair ties with Myanmar. Describing the inauguration ceremony as ``an important milestone'' in relations between the two countries, he said, ``India considers it a privilege to be a partner in the socio-economic development of Myanmar... the road also stands as visible proof of India's strong desire and commitment to develop and diversify its relations with Myanmar.''

The External Affairs Minister, who flew to Mandalay in the afternoon, will be travelling to Yangon on Wednesday where he will confer with Prime Minister Senior General Than Shwe and others who make the State Peace and Development Council (SPDC) that runs the country.