India-Myanmar-Thailand highway

A 26.5-km-long stretch of the highway linking India, Myanmar and Thailand has been inaugurated by Myanmarese and Thai authorities. The ceremony, which opens up the Myawaddy-Thinggan Nyenaung-Kawkareik stretch, also witnessed the laying of a cornerstone for the upcoming Myanmar-Thailand Friendship Bridge No. 2 to link Thailand’s Maesot with Myanmar’s Myawaddy. The highway, which is part of the east-west trade corridor of the Greater Mekong Subregion, will reduce travel time in the region from three hours to 45 minutes; it also renews hope that someday a bus will ply between Imphal and Mandalay.