The Indian perspective on connectivity corridors with Southeast Asia: from barrier to bridge
The Indian perspective on connectivity corridors with Southeast Asia: from barrier to bridge

Summary/Abstract: Any discourse on regional economic integration is incomplete without the discussion of the importance of connectivity. Enormous opportunities and growth generated by Asia in the recent past may stop at their international borders in the absence of adequate connectivity. Therefore, the paper is set to review the overall presence of the transport corridors which connect India with Southeast Asian countries. Hence a brief examination of India’s initiation of connectivity corridors, like the Trilateral Highway (TH), the Kaladan Multi-modal Transit Transport Project (KMTTP), the Bangladesh–China–India–Myanmar Economic Corridor (BCIM-EC), and the Mekong India Economic Corridor (MIEC). Their impact on the regional economy at the national level and on the economic development of the connected areas is at the heart of this paper. Second, it attempts to find out the potential determinants of the existing freight over the economic corridor. Findings from the paper recommend that GDP and road density are positively related to the volume of freight. Once these corridors are operational, the connected region will reap more economic benefits than the non-corridor countries.

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