China insists on high speed rail link to India through Manipur
Source: Hueiyen News Service

Imphal, January 10 2011: Out of the three Chinese intended rail network plans beyond its borders, connecting India through Moreh of which Indian Railways has begun initial preparations, the Jiribam to Moreh proposed broad gauge track is one.

According to an online edition report in Asia Times, in order to connect the two countries, India and China by rail, Indian Railways began initial preparations to extend a broad gauge track from Jiribam in south-western Manipur to Moreh on the border with Myanmar.

The line will connect with a proposed track in Myanmar from the current railhead at Segyi in western Sagaing Division to the town of Tamu on the Myanmar-India border, the report said.

An established rail link between India and Myanmar would also allow for more efficient shipment of goods between India and China.

Trade between the two countries has been fast growing.

China is now India's largest trading partner, with bilateral trade projected to have reached $60 billion last year.

While rivals for influence in the region, especially in Myanmar, their economies are becoming increasingly interdependent despite complaints by some Indian businessmen carping about a trade imbalance which favours China.

India, not to be outdone by Chinese financing of Myanmar's railway infrastructure, authorized its state-owned EXIM Bank to lend $60 million to Naypyidaw to finance railway projects.

The announcement of the funding came during a recent visit by Myanmar leader Senior General Than Shwe to New Delhi where he met with Indian leaders including Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.

The agency reported that Myanmar is set to become an important regional rail hub connecting China and India with markets in Southeast Asia.

Beijing is the driving force behind the ambitious designs.

China plans to link its remote south-western region with ports in Myanmar.

In particular, a major rail line is planned to connect Kunming with a new deep-sea port and special industrial economic zone under construction at Kyaukpyu on Myanmar's western coast.

India under its Look East Policy is working out for a Trans-Asian Railway, passing through Silchar-Imphal-Moreh route extending up to the ASEAN countries and expecting that it would be wholly functional at the earliest.

There would be at least two major rail heads � one on the outskirts of Imphal to cater to the needs of Imphal City and the other at Moreh which will graduate to an import and export economic zone.

It would be the hub center for economic activities to and from the ASEAN countries.

China wants to build a high-speed rail line connecting its south-western city of Kunming to New Delhi and Lahore, part of a 17-country transcontinental rail project, said officials familiar with the plans.

After many years China has finally reached agreements with several Central Asian countries and given the green signal to its ambitious pan-Asian high-speed rail link, which envisages connecting cities in China to Central Asia, Iran, Europe, Russia and Singapore.

One proposal involves a line running from Kunming, in south-western Yunnan province, to New Delhi, Lahore and on to Tehran, according to Wang Mengshu, a member of the Chinese Academy of Engineering and one of the country's leading railway consultants.

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