China and India Want to Rebuild "Stilwell Highway" to Accelerate Regional Trade Development

The Financial Times published a feature article "Rebuilding the Stilwell Highway" on the 30th, introducing that China and India want to rebuild the historic "Stilwell Highway" to accelerate the development of regional trade, and all parties are full of expectations for the reconstruction of this highway. The original text is summarized as follows:

An abandoned road linking India and China through Myanmar will soon reappear on the map of the region. It has been overgrown and abandoned for most of the past 60 years.

During World War II, 1,100 American servicemen and many more local laborers lost their lives building the road, Winston & # 8226; Churchill dismissed it as a "laborious task that is unlikely to be built when it is needed."

But when American General Joseph & # 8226; When Stilwell led a convoy from Assam, India, to Kunming, capital of Yunnan Province, China, in February 1945, it helped break down Japan's three-year land and sea blockade of China and hasten the end of the war.

After the military objectives of the road were achieved, it soon fell into disuse and even disappeared completely in some parts of Myanmar. Sixty years later, the road is once again a race against time. Asia's emerging economic giants are rebuilding this historic highway as India and China seek to boost bilateral trade.

China has converted a 680km stretch of road into a six-lane highway and is also helping to rebuild parts of the road in Myanmar. India is far behind, with the conversion of potholed single-lane roads to two-lane roads expected to be completed by March.

The Indian government is also expected to help build part of the Myanmar road, which is 1,000 kilometers long. The Indian government is also keen to connect India's northeast with the fast-growing markets of southwest China and Southeast Asia.

Businessman Ganga & # 8226; "There are hardly any cars on the road, but that will change," said Ganga Sharma, chief executive. Sharma has two small trucks and hopes to increase cross-border trade through the nearby Pangsau Pass, which is currently limited to a fortnightly bazaar.

The $30 million "Stilwell Road" project is just one of several infrastructure projects that will cross the 1,880-kilometer India-Myanmar border in the near future. India's two state-owned telecoms groups, BSNL and TCIL, are planning to build fibre-optic lines linking Manipur in the north-east of the country with Myanmar and extending to Thailand, Malaysia and Singapore.

At the same time, India is also working to build a railway line from Jiribham in Assam, through Myanmar, to Hanoi, the capital of Vietnam. A "trilateral" highway project linking the city of Morer in Manipur with Mae Sot in Thailand — which also passes through Myanmar.

Indian Foreign Minister Pranab & # 8226; "By gradually bringing the region together [with Southeast and East Asia] through cross-border market access, the north-eastern States can become a bridge between the Indian economy and what is undoubtedly a faster and more dynamic part of the world," Mr Mukherjee said at a recent seminar.

Mani & # 8226; Sankar & # 8226; Indian Minister for North East Affairs Aiyar (Mani Shankar Aiyar) cited the Chinese government's history of coordinating the development of southwest China and the Stilwell Highway as an inspiration: "If you can beat the Japanese by connecting Assam with southwest China, why can't we connect the northeast with southwest China?" Beat the Japanese again in the economic race? & nbsp;

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