China, India mull restore dilapidated highway
(Agencies)
Updated: 2005-05-18 19:58

Engineers from China and India are preparing to restore a dilapidated highway that could boost trade by radically shortening transport distances, China's official Xinhua News Agency reported Wednesday.

Surveys are to begin this month on the 1,300-kilometer (808-mile) Stilwell Road that runs between India and China via Myanmar, Xinhua said.

There is now no serviceable overland route between China and India. Goods now travel by sea. Reopening the Stilwell Road, named for the late American Gen. Joseph Stilwell, would cut nearly 5,000 kilometers (3,100 miles) off the distance goods sent between the two countries must now travel.

Plans to restore the route come as China and India seek ways to boost trade along as their diplomatic ties grow closer.

The countries last month agreed to form a ``strategic partnership,'' reflecting a major shift in relations between the two nuclear powers.

Ties were long overshadowed by territorial disputes and mutual suspicion but bilateral trade grew to US$13.6 billion (euro10.76 billion) in 2004 _ still just 1 percent of China's total foreign trade.

Stilwell Road, also known as the Ledo Road, was built by Chinese and US troops during World War II after Japanese forces captured the Burma Road _ a key supply line for the forces of Nationalist leader Chiang Kai-shek.

The road was abandoned just 10 months after it opened in 1945. Many sections have since been reduced to jungle track due to lack of maintenance, Xinhua said.

The road begins in the northeast Indian town of Ledo, passes through Myanmar and travels over heavily forested mountains before ending in the southwestern Chinese city of Kunming.

Xinhua said much of the road remains passable, including the 61-kilometer (38-mile) stretch through India to the Myanmar border. The report did not say who would be responsible for restoring the Myanmar section of the road.

Workers are upgrading the 679 kilometer (422 mile) Chinese portion to an expressway due for completion by the end of next year, the report said.

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