Imphal, Dec. 31: A secessionist outfit of Manipur today welcomed the ambitious 1,360-km-long trilateral highway project connecting the country with Myanmar and Thailand. The banned Revolutionary People?s Front (RPF) in a statement said the proposed project would benefit Manipur.
Foreign ministers of the three countries, in a meeting in New Delhi on December 23, agreed to take up the $700 million project linking Moreh of Manipur and Maesot of Thailand through Bagan of Myanmar. The foreign ministers decided to launch the first phase of the project, which would cost $252 million, from early next year.
The first phase will include construction of 78-km-long new roads and upgradation of a 400-km single-lane road into a two-lane one. The first phase would start from Moreh and it would cost $252 million.
The statement signed by the assistant secretary of the proscribed outfit?s communication and publicity wing, Lily Leima, said, ?With the implementation of the project, the eastern gate would be opened up and the western gate, which served as the road to our slavery, would now be closed?.
Stating that Manipur was the bridge between the east and the west, the statement said, ?India could not deprive Manipur of the benefits that would be accrued from the proposed highway project.?
?Mother Manipur and its children would now be free,? the underground outfit said.
The RPF has accused Delhi of spreading false propaganda that no development project could be taken up in Manipur due to the insurgency movement.
?India also argues that as Manipur was located along the border, no development work could be taken up here,? the statement said. ?Is Punjab bordering Pakistan not more sensitive than Manipur bordering Myanmar?? the banned outfit asked.
The statement also accused Delhi of ?never taking interest in developing Manipur?.
The outfit asked if projects like the Tipaimukh dam could be taken up in seismic zone areas and underground railway systems in various cities of the country, why Delhi was dithering on taking up ?meaningful projects that can change Manipur?.
The banned outfit said Delhi ?only wanted to subjugate and exploit the state?. The statement thanked Myanmar and Thailand governments for agreeing to take up the trilateral project. ?Early completion of the project would usher in freedom of the people,? the outlawed outfit said.