South Asian countries agree to expedite deal on regulating passengers and cargo

FOUR South Asian nations – Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, and Nepal (BBIN) – have decided to expedite the conclusion of an ambitious Motor Vehicles Agreement (MVA) for the regulation of passenger, personal, and cargo vehicular traffic among the countries.

A meeting of the senior officials of the four nations was held here on Saturday to deliberate on the proposed MoU.

The meeting was held to discuss the passenger and cargo protocols that are to give effect to the MVA for the regulation of passenger, personal, and cargo vehicular traffic among the four nations, signed on June 15, 2015, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said.

The four countries’ delegations recalled commitments made at the highest political level for the implementation of the BBIN MVA and the importance of trade, economic cooperation and people-to-people contact through enhanced regional connectivity, including through facilitation of regional cross-border road transport.

The delegations expressed satisfaction over the progress made by each country in internal consultations with their stakeholders for the protocol for the movement of passengers, it said.

They also discussed in detail various aspects of the draft protocol for movement of cargo vehicles, deliberating on the existing draft text jointly for the first time, the statement said.

The delegations reaffirmed their understanding that the BBIN MVA safeguards the rights and obligations of all parties under other international agreements and bilateral pacts within the group, including those relating to landlocked countries, it said.

They also discussed a draft enabling MoU to be signed by Bangladesh, India, and Nepal for the implementation of the BBIN MVA by the three countries, bearing in mind the consent provided by the Bhutanese government for the entry into force of the MVA among the other three countries, without obligation to Bhutan, pending the completion by Bhutan of its internal procedures for ratification of the BBIN MVA.

AFP People on the road watch as a Bangladeshi cargo vehicle of the ‘Dhaka-Kolkata-New Delhi’ route begins its journey to Dhaka as part of the Bangladesh, Bhutan, India and Nepal (BBIN) Motor Vehicles Agreement.