According to a report, India has planned to link its northeast region to Southwest China. On this plan, India has started rebuilding the historic 60-year-old road that links that may help boost trade relations among India, China and other Southeast Asian countries.
The report says that the ‘Stilwell Road’ is a zigzag 1700-kilometer route that was slashed out of jungles during the World War II. It had connected India’s northeastern state of Assam to China’s Yunnan province via Burma.
American military engineers had helped to build the road to allow the Allied Army for supplying troops to China. China was struggling under Japanese invasion. Once the war was over, there was no any use of the road and it had changed into jungles again.
Now, the route is being revived but this time for the purpose of boosting trade and transport between India and China, the world’s two fastest growing economies.
According to the Indian officials in northeastern Assam, India has started rebuilding the road inside the Indian Territory that is actually a 61-kilometer stretch to Myanmar.
The four-lane highway is almost ready and it will become operational in next six months. India, China and Myanmar are holding talks to speed up opening of the road for cross-border trade among three countries.
Earlier, the trade relation between Indian and China had gained momentum to open new border routes to boost trade transport. Last year, the two countries opened their first land trade route through a Himalayan pass known as Nathu La between the Indian state of Sikkim and Tibet. The road will ultimately make the region a gateway to China and Southeast Asia and will help boosting its economy.
