BackIndia, neighbours sign pact to boost road links, trade
The pact is expected to be implemented by the end of this year
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New Delhi: Bangladesh, Bhutan, India and Nepal on Monday signed a pact to boost road linkages and trade that is expected to be implemented by the end of this year.
The pact, signed by transport ministers of the four countries, comes almost seven months after eight South Asian Nations failed to conclude a similar agreement due to resistance from Pakistan. It seeks to open up vehicular traffic in order to give impetus to trade and sub-regional cooperation—a key element of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s neighbourhood policy.
The Bangladesh-Bhutan-India-Nepal pact was proposed after the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (Saarc), which also includes Afghanistan, the Maldives, Pakistan and Sri Lanka, failed to conclude a motor vehicles agreement along with an agreement on regional railways when leaders of the eight nations met in Thimphu in November.
“We endorsed and signed the Motor Vehicles Agreement for the Regulation of Passenger, Personal and Cargo Vehicular Traffic between Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, and Nepal (hereinafter referred to as “BBIN MVA")...The finalization of the BBIN MVA would allow us to move forward, in an accelerated fashion, with implementation of land transport facilitation arrangements between and among our countries," a joint statement by transport ministers of the four countries posted on India’s ministry of external affairs website said.
“This, in turn, would enable the exchange of traffic rights and ease cross-border movement of goods, vehicles, and people, thereby helping expand people-to-people contact, trade, and economic exchanges between our countries. We will endeavor to accelerate the preparatory steps for the effective and sustainable implementation of the BBIN MVA, starting with the formulation, negotiation, and finalization of the necessary legal instruments and operating procedures," the statement said.
The motor vehicle agreement signed on Monday, the statement said, was “complementary" to existing transport agreements at the bilateral levels between the four countries.
The ministers said they took note of findings by various research bodies that “transforming transport corridors into economic corridors could potentially increase intraregional trade within South Asia by almost 60% and with the rest of the world by over 30%."
Saarc countries traded among themselves goods and services worth $20 billion in 2013-14, a 12.36% rise over the previous year.
Bangladesh, Bhutan, India and Nepal agreed to put in place “the prerequisites" for implementing the pact—including information technology systems, infrastructure, tracking and regulatory systems—by December 2015. The ministers said they were satisfied with the progress achieved in improving physical road connectivity between the countries.
“We recognize that our four countries comprise a dynamic sub-region, which requires efficient land transport connectivity between the concentrations of supply and demand, which are widely dispersed.
“We take note that 30 priority transport connectivity projects with an estimated total cost of over $8 billion have been identified, which will rehabilitate and upgrade remaining sections of trade and transport corridors in our four countries. These corridors and associated routes were determined based on analysis of patterns of regional and international trade," it said.
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