Indian State Seeks Reopening of Old

[suriya@xxxxxxxxxxxx]

Indian State Seeks Reopening of Old Road to China

 GUWAHATI, India, Oct 13 (Reuters) - India's northeast state of Assam has
asked New  
Delhi to reopen for the first time in 51 years a strategic road linking the  
country to Myanmar and China. 

There is a lot of potential for border trade if transportation links can be  
improved," Assam Transport Minister Pradip Hazarika told reporters on
Tuesday. 

 The Stillwell Road, closed since 1947 because of security concerns, links
Assam's tea plantations  
and rich oil fields with China's Yunnan province through Myanmar. 

"With the opening of the historic road which is lying unused, we can reach  
the vast Southeast Asian and Chinese markets," Hazarika said. 

 The Stillwell Road was built to provide military logistics to Chinese
forces during World  
War Two. It was closed after India gained independence from the British. 

 The road stretches 1,669 km (1,043 miles) from Ledo in Assam through
Myanmar's Hukwang  
valley to Kumming town in Yunnan. 

 State Chief Minister Prafulla Kumar Mahanta said he had written to India's
surface transport  
ministry seeking resumption of trade through the Stillwell route. 

 Hazarika also advocated the development of water routes. 

 "The improvement of Stillwell Road that connects the Yunnan province of
China through Burma  
and opening of the river route through Bangladesh will help us a lot,"
Hazarika said.  

Assam has 2,000 km (1,200 miles) of waterways, including one of the world's
biggest  
rivers, the Brahmaputra. 

 "Indian water routes are not developed properly both for cargo and
passenger transport," he  
added. 

 India's northeast comprises seven mountainous states and is ringed by
China, Bhutan, Myanmar and  
Bangladesh. 

 Home to more than 200 ethnic groups, the region has been plagued by
separatist  
violence since India's independence. 

 The Indian government has kept traditional routes closed to check
infiltration of separatist guerrillas  
who maintain their camps and hideouts beyond India's borders. 

 Hazarika said illegal border trade worth millions of dollars was carried
out in the  
region every year.