Thailand Highway Unlikely Any Time Soon: Report-Mizzima-Oct 18
A full reopening of the India–Myanmar–Thailand (IMT) Trilateral Highway through Myanmar is unlikely in the near term, according to a report released in October by the Myanmar Policy Institute (MPI). The report points to intensifying armed conflict, contested control of territory, damaged infrastructure and the humanitarian consequences of military operations in the Tamu–Monywa area of Sagaing Region between June and September 2026. It also describes the strategic challenge for India, which wants to improve regional connectivity while fighting continues in Myanmar. According to MPI, military activity increased in June 2026 after Min Aung Hlaing’s visit to India. The junta deployed about 1,000 personnel in several columns along the Tamu–Kyikone–Kalewa route and, backed by militias and allied armed groups, retook residential areas including parts of Khampat. MPI says similar operations took place along the Kalewa–Monywa route, where troops reached Kalewa and declared the road open, but later ambushes and clashes cast doubt on the claim that the whole route is secure. DVB reported on 15 July that PDF and political sources called the junta’s claim to have regained the Kalewa–Monywa road “propaganda.” MPI says damaged bridges still block movement beyond Khampat, and insecurity has disrupted repair and construction work. It says airstrikes, heavy artillery and ground offensives caused civilian casualties, destroyed homes and displaced tens of thousands. By late June, more than 30,000 civilians were displaced along the Kalewa–Monywa route, and people from more than 50 villages had fled along the Tamu–Kyikone–Kalewa stretch, it says. The report concludes that the highway’s future depends on security, working infrastructure and functioning regional logistics arrangements. Proposed in 2002, the roughly 1,360-kilometer highway is a pillar of India’s Act East Policy, meant to link Northeast India with Southeast Asia through Myanmar and boost trade, investment and transport with Thailand. The route as a whole has never been completed. Read more at:
