External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said that the completion of the India-Myanmar-Thailand Trilateral (IMTT) Highway, a game changer in India's neighbourhood policy in engaging with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), has been currently challenged by the internal strife in Myanmar.
At a session on 'Act East, Act Fast and Act First' at the Advantage Assam Summit in Guwahati on Monday, Jaishankar said that India's 'Neighbourhood First' policy has made significant progress whether it is in Bangladesh, Bhutan, Nepal or Myanmar, and cited an example of how during India shipped vaccines to neighbouring nations during the COVID-19 pandemic.
"The situation in Myanmar has paused the IMTT Highway project...We cannot allow this to block something so momentous. Practical solutions will have to be found to ensure the advancement of this initiative," he said.
Around 70 per cent of construction work on the IMTT highway had been completed till July 2023. Once constructed, the 1,400-km-long highway would link India with Southeast Asia by land, boosting trade, business, health, education, and tourism ties among the three countries. It will connect Moreh in Manipur with Mae Sot in Thailand via Myanmar.
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Jaishankar further said that there has been a steady growth and deepening of ties between New Delhi and ASEAN, which should be further leveraged, adding that the review of the trade agreement between India and ASEAN countries should not be further delayed.
"The trade agreement must be pursued as this can help give a fresh economic boost to this relationship with opportunities in emerging areas like AI, semiconductors, green shipping and green hydrogen actively pursued," the External Affairs Minister said.
He then went on to mention how Thailand and Malaysia have liberalised visas for Indians and other ASEAN members have expanded air connectivity. He also said that skill development and education can be other domains for future cooperation as well.
The 'Neighbourhood First' policy guides the management of India's relations with countries in its immediate neighbourhood.
"We have seen new roads, checkpoints, rail links, waterways, power grids, fuel pipelines and transport facilities. There is much more to come in the years ahead," Jaishankar said.
There has been no timeline for completion and operationalisation of the trilateral highway, which has seen multiple delays. The government had earlier aimed to make the highway operational by December 2019.
At the session, Jaishankar said that both Japan and South Korea have emerged as significant economic players in various areas in India. "Japan has accorded priority to the development projects in the North East in various fields, particularly in enhancing mobility and educational exchanges," the minister said.