Min Aung Hlaing’s Trade Route Vow a Hostage to Battlefield Realities

Coup leader-turned-president Min Aung Hlaing has pledged to complete the India-Myanmar-Thailand Trilateral Highway and the Kaladan Multi‑Modal Transit Transport Project within his five‑year term, despite ongoing conflict along the routes.

Speaking at a coordination meeting on Thursday, his first after returning from India last month, Min Aung Hlaing said the regime would accelerate implementation of India-backed projects and also push forward the China‑Myanmar Economic Corridor (CMEC).

The planned India-Myanmar-Thailand Trilateral Highway is a 1,360‑km route stretching from India’s Manipur State through Tamu, Kalewa, Kale, Monywa, Mandalay, Naypyitaw, Bago, Hpa‑an and Myawaddy before entering Thailand at Mae Sot.

At the meeting, Min Aung Hlaing told his ministers to make necessary preparations to start construction once security was secured along the routes. Clashes continue along both routes.

The regime last week claimed to have recaptured the road stretch between Monywa and Tamu on the India border, but resistance forces say fighting continues and the military does not fully control the route. In Karen State, clashes between the regime and the Karen National Union have intensified near Myawaddy, the highway’s eastern section near the Thai border. In the west, the road cuts through resistance strongholds in Sagaing Region’s Yinmabin, Kani and Mingin townships.

“The regime’s claim to have recaptured complete control of the Monywa-Kalewa section is nothing but propaganda. Their troops have only reached each end, while we still control sections along the route,” a member of the Mingin Township People’s Defense Force said.

The Kaladan project faces similar obstacles. The project is designed to link India’s landlocked northeast with the Bay of Bengal via Rakhine and Chin States. It would give India’s northeast long‑sought access to the sea and smooth the flow of goods.

However, the Arakan Army controls most of Rakhine and Paletwa in neighboring Chin State, including areas critical to the project.

The ethnic army is now pressing into Sittwe and Kyaukphyu, where Chinese mega‑projects are based. The CMEC, part of China’s Belt and Road Initiative, includes the Kyaukphyu deep‑sea port and road and rail links from Rakhine through central Myanmar to Yunnan. But northern Shan towns along the corridor remain under the control the ethnic rebels, halting cross‑border trade.

Residents in the northern Shan capital, Lashio, said they see no sign of projects resuming. “Our area is surrounded by [rebel] Kokang troops. We haven’t heard of any trade routes reopening or construction starting,” one resident told The Irrawaddy.

Battlefield realities notwithstanding, Min Aung Hlaing vowed to finalize the strategic road projects during “his term as president.”