The Kaladan Road Project[1] (Burmese: ကုလားတန်မြစ်ကြောင်း ဘက်စုံဖွံ့ဖြိုးရေး စီမံကိန်း) is a US$484 million project connecting the eastern Indian seaport of Kolkata with Sittwe seaport in Rakhine State, Myanmar by sea. In Myanmar, it will then link Sittwe seaport to Paletwa in Chin State via the Kaladan river boat route, and then from Paletwa by road to Mizoram state in Northeast India. All components of the project, including Sittwe port and power, river dredging, Paletwa jetty, have been completed,[2][3] except the under construction Zorinpui-Paletwa road.[4] Originally, the project was scheduled to be completed by 2014, but end-to-end project is expected to be fully operational only by December 2023 as per November 2023 update.[4]
The route of the project around Paletwa and along the Kaladan river is troubled with Chin conflict, Rohingya conflict and militant groups such as Arakan Army and Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army (ARSA).[5][6] Among these the ARSA, created by Pakistan's Lashkar-e-Toiba and has links with Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen in Bangladesh and the Indian Mujahideen in India,[7] was behind the mass killing of Hindu Burmese Indians in the Kha Maung Seik massacre.[8][9]
Paletwa is less than 20 km (12 mi) from the Bangladesh border.
- ^ Purushothaman, Vakkom. "Kaladan Multi Modal Transit Transport Project to link sea route in Myanmar with Mizoram". The Northeast Times. Archived from the original on 15 April 2012. Retrieved 11 August 2012.
- ^ Still under construction, The Statesman, 13 May 2018.
- ^ India starts construction of ₹1,600-cr Mizoram-Myanmar Kaladan road, Business Line, 17 April 2018.
- ^ a b Cite error: The named reference
jats1was invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ Buddhist refugees in Mizoram begin journey back to Myanmar, but unconfirmed tales of horror keep them on edge, First Post
- ^ NE Displaced people, The Wire.
- ^ Myanmar calling, The Telegraph
- ^ Naing, wa Lone, Shoon (25 September 2017). "Myanmar says bodies of 28 Hindu villagers found in Rakhine State" – via www.reuters.com.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) - ^ "Myanmar: New evidence reveals Rohingya armed group massacred scores in Rakhine State". www.amnesty.org. 22 May 2018.