India-Myanmar-Thailand Trilateral Highway

Also called: IMT Trilateral Highway · Topic: India and her Neighbours · NCERT: Class 7, Ch 2 "India and Her Neighbours"

Meaning

The India-Myanmar-Thailand Trilateral Highway is a road link of about 1,360 km. It runs from Moreh in Manipur (India), across Myanmar, to Mae Sot in Thailand [6][7]. It matters because it is the land backbone of India's Act East Policy, India's plan to build closer trade and other ties with Southeast Asia. It links India's North-East to the ASEAN market (ASEAN is the group of Southeast Asian countries). It is still incomplete.

Explanation

Why the road is needed

• Myanmar is the land bridge.
• NCERT calls Myanmar "India's gateway to Southeast Asia".

• Any road from India to Thailand and the rest of ASEAN must cross Myanmar.

• The North-East needs an outlet.

• India's North-East is joined to the rest of India only through the narrow Siliguri Corridor ("Chicken's Neck") in West Bengal.

• A road eastward gives the region direct land trade with Southeast Asian markets.

• Old links, new road.

• Indian ideas and place names spread east in ancient times, with Myanmar as the land bridge. For example, Ayodhya → Ayutthaya (the old Thai royal capital) and Dvaraka → Dvaravati (an early kingdom in present-day Thailand).
• The highway follows the same old east-west path, now used for modern trade.

The route (west to east)

• India: starts at Moreh (Manipur), which is also a border crossing point.
• Myanmar: Tamu → Kalewa → Yagyi → Monywa → Mandalay → Meiktila → Nay Pyi Taw → Payagyi → Theinzayat → Thaton → Hpa-an → Kawkareik → Myawaddy [7].
• Thailand: ends at Mae Sot, just across the border from Myawaddy [7].
• NCERT gives a shorter version of the route: Moreh via Mandalay and Bagan to Mae Sot.
• Terrain it crosses: from Moreh the road climbs through the Manipur hills. These are fold mountains (hills formed when rock layers were squeezed and bent). They belong to the Purvanchal, the eastern arm of the Himalayan system. The road then drops into the lowlands of central Myanmar.

India's share of the work

• Kalewa-Yagyi section: India is upgrading about 120 km to highway standard [6].
• Tamu-Kalewa section: India is building 71 bridges [6].
• Contract: this work was awarded in December 2017 [6].

Why it is still unfinished

• Cause: Myanmar has been in civil war since its 2021 military coup.
• Process: armed groups are active along parts of the route, so building work slowed down.
• Result: the highway is still incomplete. In the 2026 India-Myanmar Joint Statement, both sides said it needs to be completed. The statement was issued during the Myanmar President's official visit to India [8].

Where it occurs

• India: Moreh, Manipur. Manipur lies on the India-Myanmar border, which is 1,643 km long [4]. From north to south, the border states are Arunachal Pradesh → Nagaland → Manipur → Mizoram.
• Myanmar: from Tamu (opposite Moreh) through Kalewa, Mandalay and Nay Pyi Taw (the capital) to Myawaddy on the Thai border [7]. NCERT also names Bagan, the old Buddhist temple town in central Myanmar.
• Thailand: Mae Sot, the eastern end [7].
• Who builds it: the three countries share the work. India funds and builds the Kalewa-Yagyi upgrade and the Tamu-Kalewa bridges. The work was awarded in December 2017 [6].
• Policy frame: India's Act East Policy.

Don't confuse with

• Kaladan Multi-Modal Transit Transport Project: a sea-river-road route from Kolkata/Haldia → Sittwe port → Paletwa → Zorinpui (Mizoram) [3]. It ends in Mizoram and links India with India while bypassing the Siliguri Corridor. The Trilateral Highway starts in Manipur and is an all-road link from India to Thailand.
• Sittwe port: a seaport in Rakhine State, Myanmar, that is part of the Kaladan project. It began working in May 2023 [2]. It is not on the Trilateral Highway.
• Free Movement Regime (FMR): a rule that let border residents cross up to 16 km without a visa [4][5]. Moreh was one of its crossing points. It is about people crossing the border, not a road project. The MHA decided to scrap it in February 2024 [5].
• Zokhawthar / Tiau river (Mizoram): these are a crossing point and a river boundary in Mizoram. The highway's Indian end is Moreh in Manipur, not Mizoram.

Prelims Hooks

• Length about 1,360 km: Moreh (Manipur) → Mae Sot (Thailand) [6][7].
• Order of key towns: Moreh → Tamu → Kalewa → Mandalay → Nay Pyi Taw → Myawaddy → Mae Sot [7].
• Matching pairs: Moreh is opposite Tamu (Myanmar). Myawaddy is opposite Mae Sot (Thailand).
• India's share: the Kalewa-Yagyi upgrade (about 120 km) and 71 bridges on Tamu-Kalewa, awarded in December 2017 [6].
• Trap: the highway starts in Manipur, not Mizoram. The Kaladan project is the one that ends in Mizoram, at Zorinpui.
• Trap: it is an all-road route. Kaladan is the multi-modal one (sea + river + road).

Mains Points

• Connectivity and Act East (GS-III): the highway gives the North-East a land route to ASEAN markets. It would make the region a trade gateway instead of a remote corner reached only through the Siliguri Corridor. Together with the Kaladan project, it is how India reaches Southeast Asia through Myanmar.
• Infrastructure depends on a stable neighbour (GS-III):
• Problem: Myanmar's civil war since 2021 has slowed the work, and the road is still incomplete.

• Policy response: India keeps pressing for completion, as in the 2026 Joint Statement [8]. Possible steps are finishing India's own sections, working with Myanmar on security along the route, and building trade facilities at Moreh.

• Geography as a barrier (GS-I): the road must cross the steep, thickly forested Manipur hills and then Myanmar's plains. Rough terrain and a hard-to-guard border, made worse by the 2023 Manipur violence, raise the cost and the security risk of the project.

Related concepts

• India-Myanmar border
• Free Movement Regime
• Arakan Yoma

Read more

• Myanmar: gateway to Southeast Asia