The India-Myanmar-Thailand connecting road is been in the news as the new 26.5 km road that the stretch between Myawaddy-Thinggan Kawkareik section that earlier took about 3 hours of journey has now reduced to 45 minutes. The road is set to open later in November this year. The construction of the highway had started in 2012. It runs from Moreh in India to Thailand’s Maesot via Myanmar’s Tamu, Mandalay and Myawaddy.

There is also talk about introducing a bus service between India and Myanmar. If introduced, the service will fly between Imphal, Manipur, and Mandalay. And in future who all want to travel Guwahati to Imphal and Moreh, via Dimapur by road, you will actually be driving on the Asian Highway (AH-1), which is a part of the India-Myanmar-Thailand Trilateral Highway.

This stretch will connect Moreh to Mae Sot in Thailand, via Mandalay and Yangon in Myanmar. The total length of the road is around 3,200 km. The Asian highway linking India, Myanmar and Thailand has been put into service. That means the India-Myanmar-Thailand (IMT) road corridor is technically operational and you should soon be able to drive on it. The road is linking India and Myanmar and then further to Southeast Asia, as priority.

The government is set to ink a strategic agreement to run the highway to enhance regional co-operation later in November this year. The section, also part of the East-West economic corridor will not only enhance trade between Myanmar and Thailand, but also contribute to better links among people in the region.

In the future, the AH-1 will be extended and starts from Tokyo (connected by ferry), Seoul, Beijing, Ho Chi Minh City, Phnom to Mae Sot, Yangon, Mandalay, Tamu, Moreh, Imphal, Kohima, Dimapur, Nagaon, Jorabat (Guwahati), Shillong, Dawki, Sylhet, Dhaka, Kolkata, Kanpur, New Delhi, Attari, Lahore, Rawalpindi, Peshawar, Kabul, Istanbul till the border of Bulgaria.