A convoy of 20 vehicles left New Delhi for Bangkok via Yangon on Sunday on a rally to highlight the potential of the India-Myanmar-Thailand Trilateral Highway, media reports said.
The inaugural friendship rally between the Indian and Thai capitals, over about 5,722 kilometres, is due to finish in Bangkok on December 2.
The convoy of Indian-made vehicles, carrying about 80 participants from the three countries, will enter Myanmar at Tamu and travel to Yangon via Bagan.
The rally’s route from New Delhi to the border with Myanmar will take it through Bodhgaya, one of the most revered Buddhist pilgrimage destinations where the Buddha first attained Enlightenment.
The rally was flagged-off by India’s minister for transport and highways, Mr Mansukh L. Mandaviya, who said it would play an important role in developing economic, transport and cultural relations among the three countries.
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The main purpose of the rally was to create awareness that an all-weather road linking New Delhi and Bangkok would soon be operational, said India’s ANI newsagency.
In November last year, India held a trial run of passenger vehicles on the section of the IMT Trilateral Highway between Imphal, the capital of its Manipur State, and Nay Pyi Taw, via Tamu, Mandalay and Bagan.
A rally linking India, Myanmar and Thailand took place in May and June and involved 12 vehicles. It began in Itanagar, the capital of India’s Arunachal Pradesh State, and travelled to Bangkok via Tamu, Mandalay, Taunggyi and Kengtung.
