Nitin Gadkari to visit Bhutan for signing BBIN Motor Vehicle Agreement

The Transport Ministers of Bangladesh, Bhutan, India and Nepal (BBIN) will sign the agreement at their meeting in Thimphu on June 15.

Earlier, the Union Cabinet, at a meeting presided over by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, approved the proposed Motor Vehicle Agreement amongst four countries.

A SAARC Motor Vehicle Agreement was approved during the SAARC Summit in Kathmandu in November 2014. Unfortunately, it could not be signed due to reservations of Pakistan.

The SAARC Declaration at Kathmandu summit also encouraged Member States to initiate regional and sub-regional measures to enhance connectivity. Accordingly, it was considered appropriate that a sub-regional Motor Vehicle Agreement among Bangladesh, Bhutan, India and Nepal (BBIN) may be pursued.

A meeting of Secretaries of Transport of BBIN countries was organised by Ministry of Road Transport & Highways in February 2015 to discuss and finalize the text of the draft BBIN Motor Vehicles Agreement, which is similar to SAARC MVA Draft with some minor changes.

The signing of BBIN agreement would promote safe, economical, efficient and environmentally sound road transport in the sub-region and would further help each country in creating an institutional mechanism for regional integration.

"BBIN countries would be benefited by mutual cross-border movement of passenger and goods for overall economic development of the region. Each member state of the BBIN sub-regional grouping would bear its own costs arising from implementation of this agreement which will go a long way in cementing regional cooperation and enhancing trade among member states," read a government statement.