The shipments on a newly-launched railway line under the China-Myanmar New Passage from the Myanmar border to the key commercial hub of Chengdu in western China has started.

• The passage provides China a new road-rail transportation channel to the Indian Ocean, were delivered last week, state media reported on Tuesday.
• The transport corridor involves a sea-road-rail link.
• It connects the logistics lines of Singapore, Myanmar and China, and is currently the most convenient land and sea channel linking the Indian Ocean with southwest China.
• Goods from Singapore reached Yangon Port, arriving by ship through the Andaman Sea of the northeastern Indian Ocean, and were then transported by road to Lincang on the Chinese side of the Myanmar-China border in Yunnan province.
• The new railway line that runs from the border town of Lincang to Chengdu, a key trade hub in western China, completes the corridor.

Ans: Fragility at India-Myanmar Border

• From the perspective of security, India’s border with Myanmar has historically presented serious security challenges.
• Chinese troops had used the Myanmar route to threaten India’s the North-eastern States prior to the 1962 war.
• In the run-up to the India-China war of 1962, Chinese troops had commissioned local muleteers in Northern Myanmar to facilitate the movement of troops and war logistics to challenge India’s Northeast.

• The work on infrastructure projects in India’s the Northeastern States needs to be expedited to ensure speedy mobilization of India’s own troops to face different contingencies.
• Monitoring of developments including deployment of space assets to ensure that India is not caught unaware would be desirable.
• Most importantly, India on its part needs to substantially step up its own game in Myanmar and proactively engage Myanmar in the realm of the infras