Connecting Bangladesh and India's Northeast of the Asean
While the project was once refused by the then-Khaleda Zia government, it has been welcomed by the current Bangladesh government with open arms, as it will provide Bangladesh with better opportunities to capitalise on the vast markets of neighboring Indian states, as well as the Southeast Eastern countries.
Bangladesh's participation in the ongoing India-Myanmar-Thailand Trilateral Highway (IMTTH) project, one of India's flagship projects under its Act East Policy, is much-awaited and hoped for.
Even during Sheikh Hasina's recent four-day visit to India from September 5 to 8 in 2022, Bangladesh's unabated interest on the matter was visible in the ministerial-level discussions that were held.
This is because India's proposal to extend the IMTTH project, so as to establish connectivity with other ASEAN powers like Lao PDR, Cambodia and Vietnam would result in an approximately 3,200 km route known as the East-West Economic Corridor (EWEC).
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And, given how ASEAN connectivity remains a priority concern for both India and Bangladesh, a possible eastwards extension of the IMTTH as a division of the EWEC — that further links itself with the Greater Mekong Subregion (GMS) — is crucial if the South Asian economies want to play a more meaningful role in the post-Covid world.
Initially, when a road belt connecting India, Thailand and Myanmar was under construction, India had approached the-then Khaleda Zia-government to be a part of the project. However, it was refused back then.
The Sheikh Hasina-government, on the other hand, expressed its interest to join the IMTTH project during a virtual summit between Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and her counterpart Narendra Modi in 2020. The matter was again brought up in discussions held during Modi's Bangladesh visit in 2021, to commemorate 50 years of bilateral ties between the South Asian neighbors.
In 2018, the Economic Research Institute for ASEAN and East Asia (ERIA) was commissioned by the Indian government to conduct a study on the feasibility of the IMTTH'S extension to the EWEC.
According to ERIA, developing a potential southern route for extension stands more feasible than a northern route.
The potential northern route passes through Myanmar's Shan state, the Myanmar–Lao PDR Friendship Bridge at Xieng Kok in Laos till Pang Hok, a primary border crossing between Laos and Vietnam. Entering Vietnam through Tay Trang, the route then connects with the cities of Dien Bien Phu Phong, Hanoi and Hai Phong.
The development of a northern route faces many challenges in the form of unresolved security issues like restrictions on foreigners entering parts of Myanmar's Shan state, and issues of poor infrastructure as noticeable in Laos, where many of its sections would require expansion for accommodating large trucks.
The potential southern route passes through the Thai cities of Mae Sot and Bangkok till Aranyaprathet at the Thailand-Cambodia border. Thereafter, the route passes through important Cambodian cities like Phnom Penh till Bavet, Cambodia's international border gate with Vietnam. After entering Vietnam, the route passes through the Go Dau port and the cities of Ho Chi Minh and Vung Tau.
The prescribed southern route has better developed roads in Thailand since it overlaps with GMS economic corridors– something that the northern route lacks. The economic returns are also to be higher in the southern route's case since the better quality of road infrastructure would result in a lower completion cost.
Extension of the IMTTH ensures economic integration and greater connectivity of India's landlocked North Eastern Region (NER) with Bangladesh and the Southeast Asian nations of Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam as Bangladesh's involvement adds additional routes for the project by both, land and sea.
Bangladeshi products are also known to be in heavy demand in the states of Meghalaya, Mizoram, Assam and Tripura that fall under the NER. These states share a border with Bangladesh and provide a big market for its fast-growing economy– and the IMTTH project would simply catalyse this opportunity further.
The eastward extension will also reduce time and transportation costs to Myanmar and Thailand, simultaneously opening wide opportunities for exporters in Bangladesh and the NER to the unexplored regions of Cambodia and Laos.
Likewise, the corridor will ensure Cambodia, Myanmar, Laos, Thailand and Vietnam greater access to the NER and Bangladesh's vast markets, reducing their heavy reliance on Chinese markets.
With regard to geographic proximity, Bangladesh and India have stronger trade ties with their Middle East neighbors like the United Arab Emirates, but their trade linkages with Southeast Asian countries like Laos and Cambodia are minimal– this is also something that could be addressed.
The Covid-19 pandemic has taught us that one cannot be overdependent on supply chains given how supply chains, movement of people and goods got disrupted during the pandemic.
Preparation of alternate routes, in addition to the existing regular route for trade and connectivity, shall be a game-changer for manufacturers and traders in Bangladesh and the NER in the post-Covid scenario.
The eastern extension of the IMTTH to Vietnam provides for such an opportunity since it establishes new/alternate sources of supply and larger markets.
Prarthana Sen is a member of the Indian Association for Asian and Pacific Studies (IAAPS) and former researcher at the Obseraver Research Foundation (ORF), Kolkata.
