Previous Year Question
Between India and East Asia, the navigation time and distance can be greatly reduced by which of the following?
Deepening the Malacca Straits between Malaysia and Indonesia.
Opening a new canal across the Kra Isthmus between the Gulf of Siam and Andaman Sea.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
1 only
2 only
Both 1 and 2
Neither 1 nor 2
Correct Answer: B
Detailed Solution
Statement 1 is incorrect.
The Strait of Malacca lies between the Malay Peninsula and the Indonesian island of Sumatra. It is already part of the principal sea route between the Indian Ocean and the Pacific Ocean.
Deepening the strait may improve its carrying capacity and facilitate the movement of larger vessels having a deeper draft.
However, it would not reduce the geographical length of the sea route. Therefore, deepening it would not greatly reduce the distance between India and East Asia.
Statement 2 is correct.
The Kra Isthmus is the narrow part of the Malay Peninsula situated in southern Thailand.
A canal across it would provide a direct maritime connection between the Andaman Sea and the Gulf of Siam, or the Gulf of Thailand.
Ships would not have to follow the longer route around the southern end of the Malay Peninsula through the Malacca–Singapore Straits.
It would create a new maritime shortcut and could therefore substantially reduce both navigation distance and time.
The Kra Canal remains a proposed project and has not been constructed. The question concerns its potential geographical effect.