Why in news?
The 6th India – Myanmar Joint Trade Committee (JTC) Meeting was held recently at New Delhi.
What is the importance of Myanmar?
- Myanmar is India’s gateway to South East Asia and ASEAN with which India is seeking greater economic integration through ‘Act East’ Policy.
- Myanmar shares a long land border of over 1600 Kms with India as well as a maritime boundary in the Bay of Bengal.
- Trade and Commerce play a significant role in the bilateral relationship of the two countries.
- India’s trade with Myanmar grew by 6.01% from USD 2.05 bn in 2015 -16 to USD 2.18 bn in 2016-17.
What are the highlights of the meeting?
- India sought the cooperation of the Myanmar side in actively pursuing enhanced road, sea and air connectivity between the two countries.
- Highlighting the progress made by India in various components of the Kaladan Multimodal Transport Project, India sought the cooperation of the Myanmar to speed up the work.
- The Kaladan Multi-Modal Transit Transport Project is a project that will connect the eastern Indian seaport of Kolkata with Sittwe seaport in Myanmar by sea; it will then link Sittwe seaport to Paletwa in Myanmar via Kaladan river boat route and then from Paletwa on to Mizoram by road transport.
- India also called for swift negotiation of a Motor Vehicle Agreement bilaterally which would facilitate seamless movement of cargo vehicles.
- Border Haats - India sought the cooperation of Myanmar side in quick finalisation of the Mode of Operation (MoO) for making the Border Haats functional on the ‘India-Myanmar border’.
- It was noted that 10 points spread across 4 states viz., Arunachal Pradesh, Mizoram, Nagaland and Manipur, have been identified for operationalising Border Haats.
- Both sides also agreed to explore opening of two new Border Trade Points at Pangkhuwa and Zoninpuri.
- Comprehensive MoUs would be explored in areas of Health Care and Textiles.
- The MoUs on capacity building between RBI and CBM and on cooperation in the field of Power Sector will be operationalised quickly.
- The proposed MoU between RBI and Central Bank of Myanmar on currency exchange rate fixation also needs to be expedited.
Source: PIB
