Bus service to Mandalay from Imphal to start soon

IMPHAL: Manipur chief minister N Biren Singh on Tuesday said the formalities for starting a bus service between Imphal and Mandalay, the second largest city of neighbouring Myanmar, are at the final stages.
Efforts are also on to extend rail and air link from the north eastern state of Manipur to Myanmar, Singh said at a conference on Act East Policy in which delegates of the neighbouring country were also present.
The Act East Policy is "a reflection of commitment to deepen ties with the ASEAN region" and more importantly with Myanmar, he said.
On improving connectivity between Manipur capital Imphal and Myanmar, Singh said "Formalities for starting Mandalay-Imphal bus services are at its final stages."
Myanmarese communication and transport minister U Thant Sin Maung had met his Indian counterpart Nitin Gadkari in October last year in New Delhi and discussed Imphal- Mandalay bus service.
It was decided that a bus from India will take passengers to Myanmar border where they will be transferred to the bus run by Myanmar operator for travelling further. Likewise, India-bound Myanmar nationals will be transferred to the bus run by an Indian operator.
At the conference, the Manipur chief minister said a survey has been made to extend rail link between Imphal to the Indo-Myanmar border town of Moreh as well as with that of the South East Asian nation.
"We are also keen for air links (between the two countries) to promote trade, tourism and greater people to people contact," he said.
However, the chief minister said the mechanism for sharing of security-related information needed to be strengthened. In order to unlock the latent potentials of the state and the region, physical and social infrastructure have to be robust, Singh said.
For pilgrims from Buddhist-majority Myanmar, Manipur could also serve as the gateway to Buddhist religious centres of Bodhgaya in Bihar, Tawang in Arunachal Pradesh and Rumtek in Sikkim, he said.
The issue of medical tourism also came up in the conference. Chief minister of Myanmar's Magway region, Aung Moe Nyo, said the Act East Policy can help Myanmarese patients get medicare facilities in hospitals of India.
The price of medicare services is reasonable and affordable in India compared to that in Singapore or the USA, Nyo told reporters.