Chin State Chief Minister Pu Lian Luai said that one of the new Chin State Government's first priorities will be constructing the Chikha to Paletwa Highway to link northern and southern Chin State.
He said: "Currently there is no highway in Chin State so our ministry will construct the first highway between the townships of Chikha and Paletwa. After that we will build roads to link villages to the highway."
There will also be links connecting the new highway directly to India and Bangladesh.
Between Chikka, one of the northern most points in Chin State and Paletwa one of the southernmost points in the state, there are about 400 miles of mountains.
Pu Ram Mang, the Chin State Minister of Project and Finance said: "Till now we estimate that we have newly constructed or widened over 1,000 miles of road in Chin State. For instance there were no motor vehicle roads in Kanpetlet before and we have constructed 200 miles of new roads."
The previous government planned to spend $37 million USD on constructing roads in Chin State in the period from 2016 to 2021.
When Pu Lal Thanhawla, the chief minister of India's Mizoram State which shares a border with Chin State, visited Kalymyo in Sagaing Region on 6 August 2016 he said that the Indian Government would give 20 billion rupees (approximately $302 million USD) towards road construction in Chin State.
Chin State Government officials also recently met with representatives of the UK Government in Hakha to discuss the construction of the Chikha-Paletwa Highway.
Courtesy BNI