India Gains Sittwe Port Access:
The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) has approved a proposal for India Ports Global Ltd (IPGL) to take over the operations of the entire Sittwe port located on the Kaladan River, Myanmar. It will be India’s 2nd overseas port after Chabahar Port.
- IPGL is a company 100% owned by the Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterways.
- The Sittwe Port, located in the Rakhine State of Myanmar, is a crucial component of the Kaladan multi-modal transit transport project.
- The deep-water port offers a significant connectivity advantage for cargo to reach from Vizag and Kolkata to the Northeastern states, bypassing Bangladesh.
- It will also reduce dependency on the Siliguri Corridor (or the chicken’s neck) squeezed between Bhutan and Bangladesh.
- India’s operational control over these 2 overseas ports, Chabahar and Sittwe, will strengthen India’s maritime influence to counter China’s String of Pearls policy with ports like Hambantota in Sri Lanka, Djibouti in Africa, etc.
