New Delhi: Minister for road transport and highways Nitin Gadkari on Monday said India was exploring the possibility of connecting Asean countries through cruise tourism. Gadkari said he already had talks with companies from Singapore on cruise connectivity and they were keen on exploring the option.
“We plan to boost cruise tourism from 80 ships per year to 900 per year. Cruises from India can start from Mumbai or Cochin and can go to Thailand, Philippines and Cambodia, saving Indian tourists time and money for specially travelling to Singapore to enjoy cruises,” said Gadkari, adding that cruise potential will be explored on public private partnership model too. The minister also added that India has already proposed a $1 billion-line of credit to promote Asean connectivity through road, air and waterways.
Gadkari who was addressing the Asean-India Connectivity Summit jointly organised by the Confederation of Indian Industry and Asean India Centre said, “The Asean India maritime transport cooperation agreement is being negotiated...An Asian India civil aviation task force has been established to see optimisation of air connectivity.” India has also agreed to establish a maritime transport working group of Myanmar, Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam to examine the feasibility of shipping networks, he added.
He stressed that with the trilateral highway being constructed by India in Myanmar and Thailand, and the Kaladan Multi-modal Project in Myanmar, connectivity with the Asean region would receive a boost. The minister pointed out that India and Myanmar are working very closely to upgrade infrastructure in the border areas.
“Connectivity projects such as the India-Myanmar-Thailand Trilateral Highway (TH), extension of TH to Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam Kaladan Multimodal Transit Transport Project are being planned and at different stages of implementation,” he said. India is already working with Myanmar in the areas of border area development, capacity building, infrastructure development, connectivity projects and institutional development.