Thailand,
India, Burma to link SE Asia, subcontinent via transport network;
Bangkok to provide 40-year loan
Thailand, Burma and India yesterday committed to building a network
of roads that would link the South Asian subcontinent and Southeast
Asia.
Meeting for the first time to spell out their commitments, foreign
ministers from the three countries yesterday agreed on a long-term plan
aimed at enhancing trade and economic ties through the envisioned
land-transport linkage.
"We have set the benchmarks for this project and we expect to
see tangible progress within two years," said Foreign Minister
Surakiart Sathirathai.
Priority will be given to two transport bottlenecks. The first is
between the Burmese town of Myawadi, on the border with Thailand, and
Thaton, just west of Rangoon.
The second is between the northern Burmese city of Monyam, which is
to the west |of Mandalay, and the north-|western town of Kalewa. A |road
from India's Manipur |State to Kalewa financed by the Indian government
has been completed.
A committee has been set up to arrange financing for the project
though private banks and other international finance institutions.
Thailand plans to provide a special long-term low-interest loan over
a period of 40 years to build a 238-kilometre stretch of road in eastern
Burma adjacent to Thailand.
The loan would be extended on the condition that Thai companies be
contracted to carry out the project, Surakiart said. Another linkage
discussed by the three ministers was a road from Kanchanaburi to the
deep-sea port in Burma's Tavoy, which would link the Andaman Sea with
the Gulf of Thailand.
"[With the new road] we would not have to go through the Strait
of Malacca," said Burmese Foreign Minister Win Aung.
Speaking to reporters on the sidelines of yesterday's meeting, Thaung
Tun, director-general of the Burmese Foreign Ministry's Political
Department, was quick to explain that the plan did not ignore China's
role in developing the region's transport infrastructure.
The trilateral cooperation between the three countries, said Thaung
Tun, would not come at the expense of Burma's relations with China, a
main strategic competitor of India. Burma and China have over the years
established close political and military ties.
Beijing is keen to use its ties with Burma to gain access to the
Indian Ocean. Foreign Minister Jaswant Singh said India's interest in
the linkage with Southeast Asia was not aimed at countering the growth
of Chinese influence in Burma.
"India doesn't look at the relationship with [Burma] or any
other countries though a third-country prism. Our approach is not
reflected by such consideration," he said.
"Why should China not develop its relations with [Burma] and
should India not develop its relations with [Burma]?" Singh asked.
Yesterday's meeting was opened by powerful Secretary-One of Burma's
ruling State Peace and Development Council, Lt-General Khin Nyunt, who
said globalisation had in turn made "regionalism" more
important.
"In the face of reality, developing countries must join together
sub-regionally and regionally, to strengthen solidarity and advance
their common interests," Khin Nyunt said.
Don Pathan
THE NATION, RANGOON
