BurmaNet News, January 11, 2011

[Editor]

January 11, 2011 Issue #4117


INSIDE BURMA
Irrawaddy: Following Suu Kyi's advice, youth network takes shape
Irrawaddy: 60 Rangoon monasteries to be relocated
DVB: Court ‘cheats’ Yuzana land grab victims
Mizzima: Military draft seen as threat to ethnic armed groups
New Light of Myanmar: Basic education teachers are to inculcate students
with sense of safeguarding nation and people by employing effectively
already-achieved stability, peace and rule of law; Refresher Course No. 74
for Basic Education Teachers opens

ON THE BORDER
Thai News Agency MCOT: Myanmar clashes at border continue, shells land on
Thai side

BUSINESS / TRADE
Reuters: CNPC, Qingdao Port ink deal for Myanmar pipeline
Myanmar Times: Hydropower attracts big investment in Myanmar

INTERNATIONAL
Mizzima: US donates $1.5 million in aid to Cyclone Giri victims

OPINION / OTHER
Asia Times: Stilwell Rd to be reborn – Sudha Ramachandran




____________________________________
INSIDE BURMA

January 11, Irrawaddy
Following Suu Kyi's advice, youth network takes shape – Ko Htwe

When Burmese pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi played host to a large
gathering of young people on Dec. 28, she urged them to listen not only to
her, but also to each other.

They seem to have got the message.

Since that meeting two weeks ago, many of the attendees have begun sharing
information, using email addresses and telephone numbers they exchanged
after their meeting with Suu Kyi.

Now a wide cross-section of socially engaged young people—from political
parties, civil society organizations and groups representing ethnic
minorities—have formed a National Youth Network that continues to grow
with each passing day.

“The participants who attended the conference stayed in touch through
e-mail and telephone.  That's how the network got started. Now we have
political parties and social groups contacting us every day,” said Myo Yan
Naung Thein, the leader of a team coordinating the network's activities.

Than Min Soe, a youth member from the Union Democratic Party who joined
the network along with 32 other members of the party, said the network is
open to anyone who wants to join and cooperate with people who share their
goals.

“We can explain the policies and opinions of our party to other network
members, and they can also share information with us. We can also do
social work together,” said Than Min Soe.

He added that another advantage of the network is that members need only
take part in discussions that reflect their own concerns.

“We can stay away if the issues others are involved in are different from
our own interests,” he said.

Than Zaw Aung, a youth member of the Democratic Party (Myanmar), said he
joined the network with 16 other young lawyers because he wants to work
together with them to fight injustices such as illegal land confiscation.

“We intend to increase our capacity-building so that other young people
can work together for the good of the country in the post-election period.
We will also try to expose injustices through the network,” he said.

Kyaw Min Hlaing, who competed in last year's Nov. 7 election as a
candidate for the National Democratic Front, said that the network would
benefit everybody by enabling them to share their points of view.

“We can extend our social work through the network. And since I belong to
a legally registered party, I also look forward to doing political
activities through the network,” said Kyaw Min Hlaing, who also belongs to
a volunteer group that teaches orphans and students in Rangoon's Thanlyin
Township.

“We can contact groups that are scattered all over the place,” said Wai
Phyo Aung, a leading member of Mizzima Alin, a civil society organization
whose members include doctors and university and technical students
engaged in social work.

“We can do more social work and get to know each other better because of
the network,” said Thiri, a member of the Development Association for
Youth, a group that focuses on teaching orphans, the children of HIV/AIDS
patients and the poor.

____________________________________

January 11, Irrawaddy
60 Rangoon monasteries to be relocated – Hset Linn

Rangoon — More than 60 Buddhist monasteries situated along the banks of
the Pegu River in Thaketa Township in Rangoon are to be relocated to
Shwepyithar Township in the northern suburbs of the city, according to
several affected monks.

Local residents speculate that the monasteries may have been targeted by
the military regime because of the active involvement of many of their
monks in the 2007 Saffron Revolution.

Several monks said they believe the monasteries will be destroyed to make
way for a port project and road extension financed by the Htoo company
owned by Tay Za and the Yuzana company owned by Htay Myint. Both
businessmen are known to be close to several military leaders and are
blacklisted by Western sanctions.

The monasteries affected are situated on or close to Shukhinthar Road,
which runs along the Pegu River just east of central Rangoon. Also due for
relocation, according to the monks, are several highly respected religious
centers, including Aung Thida, Zaytawun, Myo Ukin, Mingalayama, Thae Inngu
Dharma Center and Mogok Aung Nyeinchan Monastery which run a free
community clinic, and Kan Zayon Monastery, which runs free English
classes.

All the Buddhist monasteries and learning centers have already been
informed that they are to relocate to Wahtayar in Shwepyithar Township,
according to the monks.

“Ten Buddhist learning centers and around 60 monasteries are on the
relocation list,” said affected monk U Agga. “Approximately 1,500 monks
reside in those monasteries.”

“Speculation about a relocation began last year, but the first proof we
saw was on Dec. 27 when municipal workers, military officials and the Htoo
Trading Company staff came here and took photographs and surveyed the
area,” said the monk.

“The naval port, the park and the Shwe Hin Thar Hotel will be in the
firing line if the project goes ahead,” said a monk from Zaytawun
Monastery. “However, I have heard nothing about their relocating. Only
monks have been instructed to move out.”

At Aung Thida Monastery, a representative of the more than 200 monks
studying Buddhist literature there said the monks are worried about their
relocating to the new site as they depend solely on alms offered by
members of the public.

“All monasteries rely on donations,” a senior monk said. “But the place
where we are being asked to relocate to is practically empty.”

The monks who spoke to The Irrawaddy said they do not know the exact date
of the relocation, but said they will defend their religious property as
new monasteries are normally devoid of furnishings and any religious
paraphernalia.

“The State Sangha Maha Nayaka Committee [the state-sponsored Buddhist
monks’ organization] has not called us in yet,” a monk said. “If we are
told to relocate, we will contest the decision.”

The monks said they have been informed that each Buddhist learning center
will be allocated a 200-foot-wide plot in Wahtayar, while each monastery
will be alloted a 90-foot-wide plot at the new site.

The monks told The Irrawaddy that the authorities will not pay any
compensation nor pay for any building construction or other costs.

During the 2007 Saffron Revolution, when the military attempted to raid
the monasteries on Shukhinthar Road, they were confronted by Thaketa
residents, resulting in the death of one local man. Ultimately, the
military staged a raid against the monks with the assistance of local navy
from the nearby port on the Pegu River.

____________________________________

January 11, Democratic Voice of Burma
Court ‘cheats’ Yuzana land grab victims – Khin Hnin Htet

Farmers in Kachin state battling a court case against a huge land grab by
the powerful Yuzana construction company say that judges have awarded them
less compensation than the company initially offered.

The court in Kachin capital Myitkyina ordered Yuzana, which is owned by
business tycoon and Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP) chairman
Htay Myint, to pay 80,000 kyat ($US8) per acre of paddy and 150,000 kyat
($US150) per house confiscated.

The company had initially offered to pay the roughly 100 farmers up to
100,000 kyat ($US100) for an acre of paddy. “But now the court set the
amount at 80,000 kyat. We are very disappointed
 we want our land back,”
said Zaru Tee, one of those involved in the case.

The farmers had claimed that Htay Myint had orchestrated the illegal
confiscation up to 200,000 acres of farmland in the northern state, but a
court in October absolved him of any wrongdoing.

Yuzana took over swathes of land in the Hukawng Valley, which was last
year declared the world’s largest tiger reserve, for the planting of sugar
cane. Locals there said that bulldozers had been sent in to flatten some
five villages in preparation for the plantations. Reports also claim that
employees have been given weapons training.

Income generation and schooling for the farmers’ children has also been
affected.

“After losing the land, I couldn’t continue to send my children to school.
Because, they didn’t get an education, my children have ended up as day
workers without steady income for food,” said Zaru Tee.
____________________________________

January 11, Mizzima News
Military draft seen as threat to ethnic armed groups – Phanida and Myo Thant

Chiang Mai –– The enactment of a military draft law, making most adult
Burmese subject to serve in the armed forces, is likely to create more
tension between the junta and the ethnic armed groups, according to ethnic
leaders and observers.

The junta’s law No. 27/2010 orders all Burmese between specified ages to
register for service in the armed forces. The law was approved by the
State Peace and Development Council (SPDC) on Nov. 4, 2010.

For ordinary military service, men between age 18 and 34 and  women
between 18 and 26, if called up, are subject to serve up to two years.

For service in technical positions, male professionals, including doctors,
engineers and mechanics, between age 18 and 44, and females 18 to 33, are
subject to serve in the military for up to three years.

All categories are subject to serve up to five years, if the government
declares an emergency.

All local draft committees are subject to submit a list of potential draft
candidates to regional or state authorities on Jan. 1 each year.

Religious personnel, house-wives, the disabled, people who are determined
to be not suitable to serve in the military, and people with other
exemptions from the recruitment central committee would not be required to
serve in the armed forces, the law said.

People who are eligible to serve must inform the regional recruitment
committee before Dec. 31 each year.

The law said government employees, students, people who need to look after
elderly parents, patients who are receiving treatment in the drug
rehabilitation centres and prisoners could postpone serving in the
military with the approval from the relevant authorities.

Karen National Union joint secretary Saw Hla Ngwe said that the military
conscription law would bring more problems between the junta and the
ethnic armed groups, and the junta’s ultimate intention was to launch
major attacks against the ethnic armed groups.

With the enactment of broad conscription, ‘Many problems will occur’, said
Saw Hla Ngwe. ‘I think their intention is to support the military
dictatorship and kill ethnic people. Many forced military recruitments are
likely to occur’, Saw Hla Ngwe said.

‘I think the junta has many problems in recruiting. There are many
deserters. Troops of the junta are injured in the front lines. And the
junta is widely criticised because they recruit child soldiers. That’s why
they are introducing this conscription’.

An officer in the Kachin Independence Organisation (KIO) also said on the
condition of anonymity that the intention of the junta is to reinforce the
army and problems are inevitable.

If the junta could achieve genuine national reconciliation, ethnic people
would be interested in the military draft, he said.

All Mon Region Democracy Party chairman Naing Ngwe Thein said, ‘To be
honest, I think it’s impossible. It can bring many problems. We are not
fighting wars with foreign countries. So, introducing conscription is
unnecessary. On the other hand, the civil war has not ended. In Mon State,
people are very rare to join the army. I don’t know whether people in
other states want to join the army or not. I think the junta wants more
troops. But, it’s very rare here for people to go into the army’.

To avoid serving in the military, many young people might leave the
country, some observers said.

An analyst who specializes in Burma, Bo Bo Kyaw Nyein, said he believes
one of the purposes of the law was that the junta is trying to recruit
citizens to work as unpaid porters for the military in times of national
emergencies.

‘The law does not mention that it is inclusive of the whole country. So,
the adoption of the law may depend on the situations of the regions’, he
said.  ‘The law can be imposed in any township, district, division or
state in times of national emergencies. For instance, when the mainland is
peaceful but fighting breaks out in Karen State, the law could be adopted
in only Karen State’.

Section 412 (a) of Chapter 11 of the 2008 Constitution says: ‘If the
President, learns that or if the respective local administrative body
submits that there arises or is sufficient reason to arise a state of
emergency endangering the lives, shelter and property of the public in a
Region or a State or a Union Territory or a Self-Administered Area, after
co-coordinating with the National Defense and Security Council, may
promulgate an ordinance and declare a state of emergency’.

Under the law, if men between the age of 18 and 45 and women between 18
and 35 fail to serve in the armed forces without approval of the
authorities, they could face a prison sentence of up to five years or be
fined.

Professionals and people with PhDs, or people who meet the specified
qualifications, can be recruited as high-ranking officers, according to
the draft.

National League for Democracy (NLD) Vice Chairman Tin Oo said that the
junta should have sought national reconciliation before introducing
mandatory military conscription.

“The most important thing people in our country need is national
reconciliation and mutual trust’, he said. ‘Then we can discuss whether to
enact those kinds of laws. Currently, they are enacting the law although
we don’t have wars with foreign countries. If the objective of enacting
military conscription was to equalise the military and civilians, it would
be good. But, we need to take more time’, Tin Oo told Mizzima.

Burmese observer Htay Aung noted that the law was enacted before the
convening of the new Parliament and the issue was not discussed in the
last National Convention.

“You know, the junta has cheated the people many times’, he said. ‘Even in
the socialist era in Burma, a law needed to be approved by the people. The
law should have been discussed in the National Convention. But, the junta
is trying to cheat us. And they are enacting the law without the approval
of Parliament. That shows the junta’s dishonesty. I think they have a
hidden agenda’.

Enacting broad conscription without reducing the number of permanent
troops showed that the junta’s real intention is to increase the power of
the military, Htay Aung said.

On the other hand, he said, in some democratic countries universal
conscription is enacted to reduce military expenses. He said one
unintended consequence is that if many young people receive military
training and understand more about military affairs, they might be willing
to oppose the military. But, the real intention of the junta is to oppress
the ethnic armed groups by using the people, he said.

‘They will try to shape the people to become soldier-like and to obey
orders’, said Htay Aung.

The junta needs about 600 troops to serve in a battalion, but many
battalions now have only about 200 troops.

On Nov. 4, the junta established a law governing the military reserve
army, stipulating that military personnel who resign or retire from the
army must serve in the reserve army for the following five years.
____________________________________

January 10, New Light of Myanmar
Basic education teachers are to inculcate students with sense of
safeguarding nation and people by employing effectively already-achieved
stability, peace and rule of law
Refresher Course No. 74 for Basic Education Teachers opens

Yangon –The opening of Refresher Course No. 74 for Basic Education
Teachers took place at the Central Institute of Civil Service (Phaunggyi)
in Hlegu Township here this morning.

On behalf of Chairman of Myanmar Education Committee Secretary-1 of the
State Peace and Development Council Thiha Thura U Tin Aung Myint Oo,
Minister for Science and Technology U Thaung made an opening address.

Also present were Minister for Social Welfare, Relief and Resettlement U
Maung Maung Swe, Auditor-General U Lun Maung, Chairman of Civil Service
Selection and Training Board U Kyaw Thu, Yangon Mayor U Aung Thein Lin and
deputy ministers, CSSTB members U Hla Myint Oo and U Win Aung,
departmental heads, the rector of CICS (Phaunggyi) and pro rectors, heads
of department and faculty members and trainees.

In his address, the minister said that the Government is laying sound
foundations for emergence of a peaceful, modern and developed nation while
democratization process is underway in accord with Myanmar’s topography,
culture and history. The fifth step of the seven-step Road Map has been
implemented, and the remaining steps are ongoing. So, the national goal is
within the touching distance.

With a very long historical background and rich cultural heritage, Myanmar
stood as a sovereign country. The nation observes the fine tradition of
exerting mighty strength of national unity in repulsing the attacks of
aliens casting a covetous eye on the nation’s geographically strategic
location and rich natural resources.

As a result, the nation stands tall among world nations. Therefore,
national races are duty-bound to shape the nation into a peaceful, modern
and developed nation, while maintaining sound traditions.

He quoted the guidance of Head of State Senior General Than Shwe, as
saying that all citizens are to work together in building a peaceful,
modern and developed nation. With the concept that carrying out
nation-building endeavours is not only promoting national glory but also
safeguarding the nation, all national brethren have to make concerted
efforts to achieve the national goal.

In compliance with the guidance, basic education teachers are also to
inculcate students with the sense of safeguarding the nation and the
people by employing effectively the alreadyachieved stability, peace and
the rule of law.

He noted that if they round the students in skills and attitudes since
their youth, there will be a growing number of reliable, highly-educated
youngsters with high moral conduct and selfdiscipline.

In conclusion, he urged the trainees to study the lessons with all
seriousness throughout the course.

A total of 1502 teachers from basic education schools in lower Myanmar are
taking the five-week course.

____________________________________
ON THE BORDER

January 10, Thai News Agency MCOT
Myanmar clashes at border continue, shells land on Thai side

Mae Sot – Clashes between Myanmar government troops and Karen Buddhist
ethnic soldiers continued Tuesday after mortar shells landed on the Thai
side of the Moei River on Monday.

Clashes between Myanmar troops and the Democratic Karen Buddhist Army
(DKBA) splinter group continued as the DKBA fired mortars at a Tatmadaw
military base near a Thai village in Tak’s Mae Sot district.

Thai villagers called for soldiers to dispose of 11 mortar shells which
fell into the Thai side. The Thai-Myanmar Township Border Committee (TBC)
on Tuesday sent an aide-memoire to Myanmar officials in Myawaddy to
contain firing of heavy weapons to prevent their landing on the Thai side.

Fighting between Karen rebels and Myanmar armed forces erupted in November
after its first election in 20 years, forcing thousands of Myanmar
civilians to flee across the border into Thailand. They later returned
home after the fighting ended. (MCOT online news)

____________________________________
BUSINESS / TRADE

January 11, Reuters
CNPC, Qingdao Port ink deal for Myanmar pipeline

Beijing – China's top oil and gas firm CNPC and Qingdao Port Group have
signed a framework agreement on operating a wharf for the China-Myanmar
crude oil pipeline, media said on Tuesday.

The China Petroleum Daily gave no details on the deal, though it said part
of the work on the wharf in Myanmar where the oil will be unloaded had
been finished in November.

The pipeline was another important energy import means for China, the
report said, adding it was a "golden bridge of friendship between China
and Myanmar."

The crude oil pipeline will have a total capacity of 22 million tonnes a
year, while an accompanying gas pipeline will have a capacity of 12
billion cubic metre (bcm), said the newspaper, which is run by CNPC.

Both pipelines will start from the Myanmar port of Kyauk Phyu in the
western state of Rakhine (also known as Arakan), then head in a
northeasterly direction towards the city of Mandalay before arriving in
the Chinese border town of Ruili in southwestern Yunnan province.


>From there the pipelines go to Yunnan provincial capital Kunming and

eventually on to the cities of Chongqing and Nanning.

CNPC, the parent of PetroChina , said in September it planned to complete
the China section of pipelines from the former Burma and a related
refinery by 2013, putting the pipeline a year behind schedule.

The projects will help diversify China's energy import routes, cutting its
dependence on shipments via the potentially risky Malacca Strait, through
which some 80 percent of the country's oil imports now pass.

China calls this the "Malacca Strait dilemma", fearing that during a
conflict, a hostile power could choke off energy supplies that are taken
on supertankers through the narrow strait between Malaysia and Indonesia.

(Reporting by Judy Hua and Ben Blanchard; Editing by Ed Lane)

____________________________________

January 10 - 16, Myanmar Times
Hydropower attracts big investment in Myanmar – Juliet Shwe Gaung

ONE-THIRD of the total foreign investment in Myanmar went into the
hydropower sector during the first seven months of the 2010-2011 fiscal
year, and hydropower represented the second-largest investment sector,
according to official figures.

Figures from the government’s Central Statistical Organisation show that
from April to October 2010, foreign investment in the power sector reached
US$5.03 billion. Total foreign investment in all sectors during the period
was $15.9 billion.

Investment in hydropower was second only to oil and gas, which amounted to
$9.8 billion, while the mining sector stood in third place with investment
totalling $990 million during the period.

In 2010 a total of seven memoranda of understanding (MOU) and memoranda of
agreement (MOA) were signed between investors and the Department of
Hydropower Planning under the Ministry of Electric Power (1).

In February, the government signed an MOA with China for implementation of
a 1400 megawatt (MW) hydropower project on the upper Thanlwin (Kunlong)
River in Shan State. An MOU was also signed between China and the Htoo
Group of Companies for construction of a coal-fired thermal power plant in
Yangon.

In April, an MOA was signed with Thailand and China for implementation of
the 1360MW Hutgyi hydropower project in Kayin State, and the following
month an MOU was signed with China for construction of the 520MW Mawlite
hydropower project and a Kalewa coal-fired power plant, both in Sagaing
Region.

July saw the signing of an MOA with China for a 1055MW Ngaw Chan Hka
hydropower project in Kachin State.

China and Thailand signed another MOU with the government in November for
the 1400MW upper Thanlwin (Ming Long) project in Shan state. Other
agreements were signed in the same month for the 520MW Shwe Li (2) and
280MW Belin hydropower projects in Shan state.

There are currently 16 hydropower stations and one coal-fired power plant
operating in Myanmar. The most recent to open was the Yeywa hydropower
project in Mandalay Region, the first dam built in the country using
roller compacted concrete construction techniques. Opened on December 15,
it has the capacity to generate 790MW of power.

The 75MW Shwegyin hydropower project is about 80 percent complete and is
one of 10 projects due to be completed in 2012. Altogether these projects
will generate 1656MW, in addition to the 2100MW currently generated for
the entire country though hydropower.

A former official from the Ministry of Electric Power (1) said Myanmar was
unable to exploit all the identified hydropower resources on its own, so
it had signed joint-venture agreements with neighbouring countries like
Thailand, China and Bangladesh for implementation and export of power.

The joint-venture projects not only generate foreign exchange revenue
during the concession period, but also increase the country’s overall
power generation, because the agreements entitle Myanmar to 10-15pc of the
annual electricity generated from the power stations free of charge, he
said.

____________________________________
INTERNATIONAL

January 11, Mizzima News
US donates $1.5 million in aid to Cyclone Giri victims – Ko Pauk

New Delhi – US embassy officials in Rangoon said on Tuesday that the US
government will donate US$1.5 million as aid to Cyclone Giri victims in
Rakhine (Arakan) State in Burma.

United States Aid for International Development will give $1.5 million to
the UN World Food Programme (WFP) to buy food for the victims who were hit
by the cyclone last October.

This is the first assistance given by the international community after
the United Nations Office for Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs
released a report on December 20 which said only 45 percent of emergency
relief for Giri victims had been received so far.

A projected $37 million is still needed for rehabilitation besides food
assistance for more than 200,000 people.

The US government donated $300,000 earlier in emergency relief funds given
to local social and aid groups.

‘We welcome this assistance. We’re glad to see assistance to these cyclone
victims by UN agencies, the international community and especially from
European countries and Latin American countries’, Rakhine Nationalities
Development Party (RNDP) party chairman Dr. Aye Maung told Mizzima.

‘It will amount to about 1,200 million kyat. A bag of rice now costs
11,000 kyat. So this money will cover about three months if one bag of
rice is distributed to each family. Food assistance is only for immediate
relief, and we need much more for rehabilitation’, he said.

A resident in Kyauk Phyu told Mizzima: ‘We have not yet seen
rehabilitation work here. Relief operators and charity organisations came
and distributed rice, cooking oil and some other relief material. We also
see the UN and WFP coming through in cars. But we have not yet seen
rehabilitation work’.

The Committee Representing the People’s Parliament (CRPP), including
Burmese pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi and independent candidates
who stood in the 2010 general election, donated about 15 million kyat on
December 13 to victims in cyclone-hit regions.

On December 28, Suu Kyi, veteran politicians, CRPP members, some
independent candidates, the Democratic Party (Myanmar) members and leaders
of the Democracy and Peace Party sent an appeal letter to foreign
countries requesting assistance for Giri victims.
Cyclone Giri devastated Kyauk Phyu, Myaybon, Minbya and Pauktaw townships
on October 22, leaving 45 people dead or missing and more than 100,000
people homeless.

____________________________________
OPINION / OTHER

January 11, Asia Times
Stilwell Rd to be reborn – Sudha Ramachandran

Bangalore – Myanmar seems to have finally overcome its longstanding
reluctance to reopening the historic Stilwell Road, which crosses the
northwest of the country to link India with China.

Mahesh Saharia, chairperson of the Northeastern Initiative of the Indian
Chamber of Commerce, describes the gains from the reopening of the
Stilwell Road as "unimaginable".

The Myanmar government awarded a contract to rebuild a 312-kilometer
stretch of the road running from Myitkyina in Myanmar to Pangsau Pass on
the India-Myanmar border to China's Yunnan Construction Engineering Group.

The award of the contract to a Chinese company is a setback to India in
its battle with China for influence in Myanmar, but the renovation of the
Myitkyina-Tanai-Pangsau Pass section of the road will benefit all three
countries, indeed the wider region, immensely.

The reopening of the Stilwell road could cut by 30% the cost of
transporting goods between India and China, providing a boost to
Sino-Indian overland trade in a few years.

Originally termed the Ledo Road, the 1,736 km Stilwell Road was built
during World War II from Ledo in Assam to Kunming so that the Western
Allies could supply Chiang Kai-Shek's Kuomintang forces after another
route had been cut by the Japanese in 1942. It was renamed after General
Vinegar Joe Stilwell of the US Army in 1945.

It winds its way from Ledo in Assam through Jairampur and Nampong in
Arunachal Pradesh until it reaches the Pangsau Pass (aka the "Hell Pass")
where it crosses into Myanmar. The road then weaves through upper Myanmar
to reach Myitkyina before turning eastward to China where it culminates at
Kunming, the capital of Yunnan province. Roughly 61 km runs through India,
1,035 km through Myanmar and 640 km in China.

After the war, the road fell into disuse. The Indian northeast and much of
the road's route through Myanmar were wracked by insurgencies. Myanmar's
inward-looking policy and avoidance of contact with the outside world, as
well as poor relations between India, Myanmar and China, meant that none
of these countries used the road.

That has now changed. Relations between the three countries have improved
significantly, resulting in a revival of interest in reopening the road.
However, stretches of the road, especially in Myanmar, were in poor
condition or simply no longer exist.

Agreement for the renovation of the Myitkyina-Tanai-Pangsau Pass was
signed in November, according to the Indian Express. The project will be
undertaken as a joint venture by Yunnan Construction and Myanmar's
military-backed Yuzana Group.

Of the three countries, China has been most enthusiastic about reopening
the road and Myanmar the least keen. Beijing has already renovated the
stretch running through China and linked it the country's superhighway
network. It has also been developing other infrastructure in Yunnan, where
Kunming is an increasingly important industrial center, in order to
maximize gains from trade once the Stilwell Road is reopened.

Since the road runs through the insurgency-wracked Kachin region over
which Myanmar's military rulers have limited control, they have been
reluctant to allow the road's opening, seeing it as likely to facilitate
movement of insurgents.

With the award of the contract for repairing the Myitkyina-Pangsau Pass
stretch, the last obstacle on the way to reopening the Stilwell road has
been removed.

India was hoping to land the renovation project, particularly as Myanmar's
rulers had raised the issue with New Delhi in 2008. The loss of the
contract to China has evoked disappointment in Delhi, but India too will
reap the benefits of the reopened road.
The two areas that the road will link - India's northeast and China's
Yunnan - are both isolated, economically backward and landlocked and the
trade the Stilwell road will encourage is likely to bring in its wake
economic development to these regions.

Partition of the sub-continent in 1947, severing what is now Bangladesh
from India, deprived the northeast of access to its nearest port,
Chittagong. Sixty years on, the region's access to the sea is about 1,600
km away - overland via a poor road and rail network and through the narrow
Siliguri Corridor to Kolkata port. Goods from India's northeast headed for
China or Southeast Asian countries are at present shipped via Kolkata
through the Strait of Malacca and on to China.

"It takes seven days for cargo to move by road from the northeast to
Kolkata, then around three to four weeks to move by sea to China," said
Saharia. Cargo from the northeast transported along the Stilwell Road
could reach Yunnan in less than two days.

The Stilwell Road could emerge as a preferred route for transporting goods
to China from other parts of India too, given the short distance to
Yunnan.

Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao during a visit to India in December said "The
world is undergoing major development and changes, we should seize the
opportunity and lose no time in deepening our ties."

During his visit, the countries set a new bilateral trade target of $100
billion by 2015 from the 2009-10 level of around $60 billion. At present
there is a $19 billion balance in China's favor. Even if a fraction of
this trade were to take place through the Stilwell Road it has the
potential to improve the economies of regions en route.

Other routes run from the northeast India through Myanmar to Southeast
Asia, including the Moreh-Tamu road, which links Manipur with Myanmar.
India's National Highway 39, which runs from Numaligarh in Assam through
Nagaland links up with this road at Moreh. The expectations of the
Moreh-Tamu road have, however, not been realized as this road is closed
for at least a third of the year due to strikes and civil unrest.

Construction on the Kaladan Multimodal Transit Transport Project is
reported to have begun late last month. The project envisages connecting
the northeastern state of Mizoram with the Bay of Bengal and is expected
to be completed by 2013, giving goods from India's landlocked northeast
access to the sea.

The project involves constructing roads linking Mizoram with Kaletwa in
Myanmar, development of the Kaladan River as a waterway and improving the
infrastructure of the port at Sittwe, capital of Myanmar's Arakan province
and the point where the Kaladan River empties into the Bay of Bengal.

Thus goods from the northeast can be transported by road and river to
Sittwe port from where it can be moved by sea to other Southeast Asian
countries. Sittwe's importance as a port will also grow as it serves as a
center for development of offshore gas fields in the area and terminal for
a gas pipeline planned to run north to China.

India had been eyeing Sittwe port for several reasons, sea access for
cargo from the northeast being one. Indian interest in Sittwe was also
particularly high as relations with Bangladesh have at times been poor and
Dhaka was reluctant to give Indian goods access to its Chittagong port.

Relations with Bangladesh have improved substantially over the past two
years and Dhaka has expressed interest in allowing India to use Chittagong
port as another outlet for its goods.

Access to Chittagong will no doubt reduce the commercial importance of
Sittwe to India. But Sittwe has strategic importance for India as well.
Besides, access to road, rail and other outlets in more countries is good
for trade, Saharia said, pointing out that this “will reduce India's
dependence on one country.”

Sudha Ramachandran is an independent journalist/researcher based in
Bangalore.