Myanmar regime makes renewed push to retake key India border trade route

Myanmar’s military has launched a renewed two-pronged offensive along a strategic highway linking the country to India, according to local residents, days after junta leader Min Aung Hlaing visited India and pledged to accelerate regional infrastructure projects. Residents said military columns began advancing on Monday from both north of Kalay and south of Tamu, targeting the Kalay-Tamu road, a key section of the India-Myanmar-Thailand Trilateral Highway. The coordinated operation appears aimed at regaining control of territory along the approximately 80-mile stretch connecting the two towns. The offensive comes as Myanmar’s military junta seeks to reassert authority over the area between Tamu and Kalay, which are both under the regime’s control. Khampat, a town located along the route, has been under the control of the National Unity Government since late 2023. Residents said a military column advancing northward from Panthar, a village south of Tamu, recaptured the village of Nanmuntar on Monday. Nanmuntar lies more than 20 miles from Khampat, and fighting was ongoing as troops continued their advance, local sources said. At the same time, military forces based in the northern part of Kalay reportedly received reinforcements and launched new ground operations during the first week of June. The latest offensive follows an airstrike on Kanan, a village near Khampat, on June 4, according to local accounts. The military campaign has displaced thousands of civilians from more than 20 villages along the highway corridor, residents said. Many have sought refuge in safer areas or attempted to cross into neighbouring India. Security checks at border crossings have become more stringent as displaced civilians from Tamu Township seek shelter across the border, residents reported. “There are moderate blockades. Checks are also stricter. But because it feels safer, people have to rely on small border villages,” a resident of Khampat said. The military launched a similar operation late last year in an effort to re-establish control over the Kalay-Tamu road but was unable to advance after intense clashes with resistance forces. The current campaign marks a renewed push following Min Aung Hlaing’s visit to India last week. During the trip, Myanmar and India agreed to accelerate work on the delayed India-Myanmar-Thailand Trilateral Highway Project and the Kaladan Multi-Modal Transit Transport Project. However, significant portions of both projects pass through areas where the military lacks full territorial control. The trilateral highway, stretching more than 800 miles, is designed to connect Moreh in India with Mae Sot in Thailand through central Myanmar, passing through Sagaing and Mandalay regions, Naypyitaw, and Karen State. Resistance forces maintain significant influence along sections of the route in Sagaing Region, including the Kalay-Tamu and Monywa-Yargyi-Kalaywa corridors. In Kani Township, another area along the highway route, residents said military forces have been conducting operations for nearly six weeks and remain stationed in the village of Chaungma. “The military hasn’t secured the road. They only control Chaungma,” one resident told Myanmar Now. “The column conducts offensives, torching residential houses along both sides of the road and killing civilians.” The latest military operations are part of broader offensives launched across Sagaing, Magway, and Bago regions and Chin and Rakhine states, where resistance groups have established strongholds. The junta has sought to regain lost territory and secure major transportation corridors as conflict continues across much of the country.

Myanmar regime makes renewed push to retake key India border trade route

The latest bid for control of the Kalay-Tamu road follows junta chief Min Aung Hlang’s visit to India, where he promised progress on connectivity projects

Subscribe for full access

After 100 days of ‘civilian’ rule, Myanmar remains a bastion of oppression

‘We cannot write as before’: Women poets of Myanmar’s Spring Revolution

Sent to die: Myanmar’s conscripts caught between a junta’s war and a nation’s collapse

Magway emerges as key front in junta’s strategy to claw back control of western Myanmar

Subscribe for full access

Related Articles

ASEAN envoy meets Myanmar junta, ethnic armed groups in Thailand as NUG questions exclusion

Russian troops, Myanmar junta forces hold small-scale joint military exercise in Naypyitaw

Associates of resistance leader questioned following his escape from NUG custody

ASEAN ministers push stalled peace plan in Myanmar talks