Introduction:
The Asian Highway is an important step in the communication system from Southeast Asia to Europe. The Asian Highway is a long-range plan for Asia to increase connectivity and economic development among states, including increasing industrial investment and trade. Through this, good relations will be established between the people of Asia and the economy of Asia will sit in the driver’s seat of the world economy.
Asian Highway:
The 140,000 km long Asian highway network will connect almost the entire Asia by road. Starting from Tokyo, this route will stop at Istanbul, Turkey, this road will connect about 32 countries in Asia. That possibility may expand further in the future. Many also dream that this road will go through St. Petersburg in Russia to the Finnish border.
Thus, this road can connect 53 countries from the Korean peninsula to the Mediterranean region. It is believed that this network will become the most important route of trade and communication between Asia and Europe in the future.
Background of Asian Highway:
Although the concept of the Asian Highway is considered a very recent issue, the idea and outline of the issue began to take root long ago through the Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP), a United Nations organ. The idea of that highway was initiated about 45-50 years ago under the CENTO and SEATO agreements.
Although its activities were somewhat suspended during the Cold War, after the Cold War, the United States and its allies, due to the Unipolar Global System and New Economic World Order based on the United States, successfully pushed the economic development of Asia and the Pacific region to strengthen their dominance in Asia, and the United Nations and its various organizations under its control. , specifically, ESCAP began working to launch the Asian Highway.
Asian Highway Bangladeshi Route:
Escape fixed 3 routes of Asian highway through Bangladesh.
1st Route: Enter through Benapole to Jessore, Dhaka, Kanchpur Sylhet to Tamabil border.
2nd Route: Enter through Banglabandha to Tamabil via Hatikumrul, Dhaka, Kanchpur, Sylhet.
3rd Route: Enter via Mangla via Jessore, Hatikumrul, Dhaka, Kanchpur, Chittagong, Teknaf via Cox’s Bazar.
The first two of these three routes enter from India and end back in India. Only the 3rd route ends at the Myanmar border. 28 Asian countries have already signed this agreement.
Controversy over the Bangladesh route:
According to the Escape map, the proposed Asian Highway Highway 1 will enter Tamabil and terminate at the Benapole border, and Highway 2 will enter Tamabil and terminate at Bangla Bandha. Bangladesh objected as both entry and end were within India. According to Bangladesh, if these two routes are approved, Bangladesh will face economic and security losses. Because in this case, India will get the opportunity to use Bangladesh as their corridor.
In this case, when Bangladesh applied to ESCAP to accept Route No. 3 as AH-1, India strongly objected, Bangladesh’s proposal has not been settled by UN ESCAP yet. The present government came to power and made concerted efforts to join the Asian Highway. On 21 May 2009, the inter-ministerial meeting of the Ministry of Communications decided to apply to join the Asian Highway as per the earlier proposal of UN ESCAP and withdrew from the earlier decision.
Bangladesh’s Potential Gains from the Asian Highway:
Experts believe that if the Asian countries are connected through the Asian highway, the economic face of Asia including Bangladesh will change completely. Because road trade will expand and transport costs will be reduced to a great extent. Asian countries including Bangladesh will benefit from this. Not only Asia but also Asian countries will benefit from being connected to Europe through this highway. The things that Bangladesh can benefit from when this highway is opened are:-
- Foreign investment and trade will increase;
- Import-export trade transport costs will decrease;
- Communication infrastructure will be developed;
- Product transportation time will be reduced;
- Illegal smuggling with border neighboring countries will decrease;
- Regional relations will strengthen;
- Prices/prices of imported goods will decrease; And
- The country will benefit from the revenue generated from transport.
Conclusion:
Given the above discussion, we can say that the Asian Highway is a milestone for South Asia. If the routes of the Asian Highway can be properly and precisely constructed, significant and effective changes in the economic, social, political, and cultural fields of Asia can be observed. Asian economies will be more efficient and dynamic than any economy in the world.