India okays 4-nation agreement

The Indian cabinet yesterday approved signing of a motor vehicles pact with Bangladesh, Bhutan and Nepal on June 15, which will enable seamless transit of passenger and cargo vehicles among these nations.

The Bangladesh cabinet had approved the pact just a few days ago.

Following the nod, Road, Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari will visit Bhutan where the pact is scheduled to be signed by transport ministers of the participating countries.

“The Cabinet has approved signing of the Bangladesh, Bhutan, India and Nepal (BBIN) Motor Vehicle Agreement for the Regulation of Passenger, Personal and Cargo Vehicular Traffic amongst BBIN.

“The agreement will be signed on 15th June at the BBIN Transport Minister's meeting in Thimphu, Bhutan,” an official statement said after the meeting.

Signing of the BBIN pact will promote safe, economically efficient and environmentally sound road transport in the sub-region and will help each country in creating an institutional mechanism for regional integration, it said.

“BBIN countries will be benefited by mutual cross border movement of passenger and goods for overall economic development of the region. The people of the four countries will benefit through seamless movement of goods and passenger across borders,” the statement said.

Each party will bear its own costs arising from implementation of this agreement, it added.

A meeting of the secretaries of transport of the four countries was organised by the Ministry of Road Transport and Highway in February 2015 to discuss and finalise the draft of the BBIN pact, which is similar to the Saarc Motor Vehicle Agreement (MVA) draft with minor changes.

Earlier, the Saarc MVA could not be signed during the Saarc Summit in Kathmandu in November, 2014 due to reservations of Pakistan. “The Saarc declaration at the Kathmandu Summit also encouraged member states to initiate regional and sub-regional measures to enhance connectivity,” the statement said.

Accordingly, it was considered appropriate that a sub-regional BBIN pact may be pursued, it added.