In order to enhance the vision of Narendra Modi’s Act East Policy, it is pertinent to construct a highway between Kuirei via Khamasom Phungdhar to Homalin, said the AIMS. It will be the nearest riverport of Myanmar from the states of North East India, including Nagaland, Manipur, Assam, Mizoram and Arunachal Pradesh, it added.
TFM Desk
The Apunba Imagi Machasing (AIMS), Manipur on Sunday proposed Prime Minister Narendra Modi to construct an Alternative Asian Highway between Kuirei via Khamasom Phungdhar, Manipur’s Ukhrul District to Myanmar Homalin.
In a memorandum submitted to the PM through Deputy Commissioner Ukhrul District, AIMS said that Homalin or Hommalinn is a town in north-western Myanmar in Hkamti District of the Sagaing Region. The town lies on the Chindwin River and is served by Homalin Airport. Gold has been found in the river sand of Uyu River, a major tributary of the Chindwin River that flows close to Homalin. Homalin lies close to the Indian border, it added.
the AIMS further said Shanni, Katheand Naga ethnic groups reside in Homalin. The main artery road in the region is the Thabeikkyin-Phaungbyin-Homalin-Hkamti Road, which is 330 miles (530 km) long. This is being extended, and bridges are being built by a Road Construction Special Group-10 to make it an all-weather road. A suspension bridge, 1000 ft long and 16 ft wide was constructed across the Uyu River linking Homalin with the Thetkekyin-Phaungpyin-Homalin-Khamti Road. Country boats, locally known as landwins, also ply in the waters of the Chindwin River to Homalin, it added.
Both Irrawaddy and its major tributary, the Chindwin River, have Inland Water Transport facilities. The Homalin Airport (HOX) in the centre of the Homalin town has flights operating to Yangon and Mandalay and is on the famous tourist circuit, it stated.
As per the memorandum, Khamasom Phungdhar, on the other hand,is one of the most remote and underdeveloped villages located north of Ukhrul in Ukhrul district, Manipur state, India. The village is known for its richness in vegetation. Khamasom is arguably the only village in northeastern India with a thick virgin forest in the Indo-Burma border stretch. The agricultural products available in the region are purely organic. It is about 7 km from the National Highway of Imphal-Ukhrul-Jessami Road from Kuirei.
In order to enhance the vision of Narendra Modi’s Act East Policy, it is pertinent to construct a highway between Kuirei via Khamasom Phungdhar to Homalin, said the AIMS. It will be the nearest riverport of Myanmar from the states of North East India, including Nagaland, Manipur, Assam, Mizoram and Arunachal Pradesh. As an extended vision of the Act East Policy, this nearest riverport will be more economically feasible to conduct Indo-Myanmar trade relations, it added.
The memorandum was signed by Social Worker Awungshi Philip Soso, AIMS president Mayanglambam Khelendro, AIMS director Atom Sunil Singh.
The copies of the memorandum were also sent to Minister for External Affairs Subrahmanyam Jaishankar, MOS in the Ministry of External Affairs Dr. Rajkumar Ranjan Singh, the Secretary to Governor of Manipur, the Chief Secretary, Government of Manipur and Deputy Commissioner, Ukhrul.