China and India are competing for their interests in Rakhine State as the Arakan Army (AA) takes increasing control of the strategically important Bay of Bengal coastline.
China is pushing ahead with the Kyaukphyu Special Economic Zone (SEZ) and a deep-sea port in Rakhine State.
The junta held a meeting of Myanmar’s Central Working Group for Special Economic Zones in Naypyitaw on January 14.
At the meeting, junta investment minister Kan Zaw called for collaboration between the junta-controlled Kyaukphyu SEZ Consortium Company Ltd and China’s state-owned CITIC Consortium along with regime ministries to expedite the project.
Two days later, the Indian ambassador to Myanmar Abhay Thakur and Indian Global Ltd representatives flew to Rakhine State’s capital Sittwe to review the India-assisted Kaladan Multi-Modal Transit Transport Corridor at the India-funded Sittwe Port.
Opened in May 2023, the port is the key component of the wider Indian-backed project, according to the Indian Embassy.
Despite skirmishes on the outskirts of Sittwe, the ambassador stayed overnight in the city, which along with Kyaukphyu and Ramree are the only Rakhine townships with any degree of regime control. The 14 other townships are now controlled by the AA.
Thakur met the junta-appointed Rakhine State chief minister Htein Lin to discuss the port’s strategic importance as an Indian-Myanmar Friendship Project, highlighting its role in boosting coastal, regional and international connectivity as well as tourism.
The Kaladan Project is a crucial plank of India’s Act East Policy to counter China’s influence in Myanmar through its Belt and Road Initiative.
Kyaukphyu projects are key to the planned 1,700km China-Myanmar Economic Corridor connecting Kunming in Yunnan province to the Indian Ocean.
The Kaladan Project aims to connect Kolkata with Sittwe by sea. In Myanmar, the project will link Sittwe’s seaport to Paletwa in southern Chin State via the Kaladan River before connecting to Mizoram state in northeast India by road.
Paletwa is held by the AA which has also taken control of major towns on the Kaladan, including Pauktaw, Kyauktaw, Mrauk-U, Minbya and Myebon.
Analysts view the ambassador’s Sittwe visit to an active conflict zone as a demonstration of India’s stance and its refusal to lag behind China.
Launched 12 years ago to provide an alternate route to India’s landlocked northeast, the Kaladan Project was scheduled for completion in 2023 after long delays. But the war in Rakhine and Chin states has shattered that plan.
