India-Myanmar-Thailand highway to be ready by 2016

The trilateral highway connecting India, Myanmar and Thailand will be fully built by the year 2016, heralding a new era of cooperation and economic integration of the region, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said today.

Addressing intellectuals and members of business community in the Myanmarese capital of Yangoon, Manmohan Singh said ''better communication is the best way of promoting economic integration and there is much we can do to revive and build arteries of communication.''

He said the two governments have agreed to cooperate in a number of road building projects. ''I hope that the very symbolic Trilateral Highway that will connect India, Myanmar and Thailand can be fully built by 2016.''

Myanmar is a critical partner in India's ''Look East'' policy and is perfectly situated to play the role of an economic bridge between India and China and between South and South-East Asia, Manmohan Singh said.

Manmohan Singh said India and Myanmar should work together to create a regional economy that can become a hub for trade, investment and communication in the region.

India is also implementing the Kaladan multimodal transport project that involves upgrading the Sittwe port and constructing a highway to connect the town of Paletwa in Chin state of Myanmar to the Indian border in Mizoram.