To upgrade its telecommunication links with Burma, India has agreed to lay fibre optic cables to Burma from the Northeastern border state of Manipur.

The landline connection between India and Burma will be sponsored by Indian state-owned Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) and executed by the Telecommunication Consultants India Limited (TCIL), BSNL officials said.

The network of the landline project will begin in Imphal, capital of Manipur, and connect to Moreh in the border. And in Burma, about 500 kilometres will be connected, commencing from the Burmese border town of Tamu to Mandalay , the second largest city in central Burma, BSNL officials said.

“This is part of Indo-Myanmar [Burma] bilateral cooperation. And the BSNL will finance the Indian side of the network,” an official in the BSNL’s planning department told Mizzima.

The telecommunication link between the two countries will be the first step towards setting up a land link between India and Southeast Asia, which will pass through Kuala Lumpur and conclude in Singapore, the official, added.

TCIL, which will execute the project in Burma, said it has already started work and the first phase of laying the network of the landline project is expected to be completed by the end of this year.

A TCIL official, who requested not to be named, told Mizzima that the project is being carried out as part of the Indo-Burmese government to government cooperation on telecommunication.

“The project is on and is under execution,” the TCIL officer said.

Meanwhile, reports said work along the two borders to link India and Burma will be completed by the end of June.

However, BSNL and TCIL are on the process of negotiating with the Burmese government for clearance and to finalise the locations where the cables will land. And a high-level bilateral meeting with the foreign ministries of the two countries is likely if the BSNL and TCIL are unable to negotiate with the Burmese authorities.

Meanwhile, the BSNL and the Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Limited (MTNL), are planning to construction an undersea submarine link to Singapore.