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.
