The service was due to commence on April, 7. The direct bus trip was supposed to boost tourism between the two countries.
The route which follows the Monywa–Kalaywa and is 590 km long, was expected to take about 14 hours currently, though it once road construction was completed in India and Myanmar, the trip would take only five hours.
A 27-seat first-class bus was supposed to be used for the inaugural trip. The trip was cancelled over the initiative of India which currently has over 100 cases of the virus and has closed its borders this week.
The new service was a brainchild of the mutual agreement signed last month between India’s Seven Sister Holidays Co Ltd and Myanmar's Shwe Mandalar Express. Each company was going to serve the stretch of the route in their respective countries:
Shwe Mandalar Express was to operate the bus service from Mandalay to the border town of Tamu in Chin State in Myanmar, and Seven Sister Holidays was to provide service from Tamu to Moreh and Imphal in India.
Mandalay-Imphal Inaugural Bus Trip Cacelled
News in Asia
The inaugural bus trip between Mandalay in Myanmar and Imphal, the capital of Manipur, a northeastern Indian state, is cancelled over the COVID-19 concerns.