{"id":16896,"date":"2024-04-11T21:44:46","date_gmt":"2024-04-11T11:44:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/woodcentral.com.au\/?p=16896"},"modified":"2024-10-21T20:19:38","modified_gmt":"2024-10-21T10:19:38","slug":"indo-pacifics-great-game-port-tightens-indias-grip-on-timber","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/woodcentral.com.au\/indo-pacifics-great-game-port-tightens-indias-grip-on-timber\/","title":{"rendered":"Indo-Pacific’s Great Game: India & China Vie for Global Grip on Timber"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

India is expanding its network of overseas ports,\u00a0expanding its tentacles on regional timber supply chains and following China’s playbook to exert economic influence across the Indo-Pacific<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The two regional superpowers are now engaging in a new great game, with China targeting new ports in Sri Lanka, the Maldives and Bangladesh to add to its extensive land and ocean port network.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Yesterday<\/a>, India Ports Global (IPGL), spearheading India\u2019s new overseas port network, gained rights to operate a new international port, Sittwe, in Myanmar. The junta-controlled government gave the company the keys to a significant timber-producing port on the Kaladan River.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to an Indian senior official connected to the deal, \u201cIPGL will fill a vacuum with the long-term planning of the port,\u201d with all trade to paid in Indian rupee as part of a new Southeast Asian multi-model transport model.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Under the terms of the agreement, IPGL will\u00a0finance the expansion of the port, built with a $500-million grant-in-aid provided by the Modi government, which, once constructed, will have the potential to accommodate deepwater sea vessels.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Wood Central understands that the new port will supply timber merchants in Vizag in Andhra Pradesh and Kolkata in West Bengal, bypassing Bangladesh to trade with the Northeastern states.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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