Narinjara News, 8 April 2023

A trial run is about to commence for a cargo ship carrying 3,000 tons of cement from Kolkata port in easternIndia to Sittwe in Rakhine  State of western Myanmar.

The management of Kolkata’s Shyama Prasad Mookerjee portrecently announced that the trial run will be done in April or May.

An official of Indian consulate in Sittwe also confirmedthat the initiative has beentaken.

“It's true that the test run is about to begin. But since itis Thingyan (water festival)period in Myanmar, the initiative may take a few days. It is likely to happen by May," he added.

India’s ambitious Kaladan multi modal project includes Sittwe port, which was reconstructed in 2009 withthe fund from New Delhi. This project aims to establish a direct trading route between Myanmar and northeast India.

Currently, all the construction works have been completed.The military council is planningto improve Sittwe as an international portand an opening ceremony is on the card.

India and Myanmar signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU)for the Kaladan project in 2018,where New Delhi has invested nearly USD 500 million.

Primary objective of the Kaladan project is to facilitate the transportation of goods by sea route toSittwe and then to Paletwa by Kaladan river. From Paletwa (in Chin State) the goods will transported by road to  Mizoram State of northeast India.

Indian media outlets recently reported that a 117 Kilometertwo-lane highway has beenconstructed from the border of Myanmar to  Lawngtlai  nlocality  of Mizoram.

Once it is completed, the Kaladan project will be made fullyoperational. Mentionable is thatover 2600 tons of rice were recently delivered to Bangladesh through the Sittwe port.