BBIN meet on MVA to enhance regional connectivity

NEW DELHI, INDIA: A two-day meeting of Bangladesh, Bhutan, India and Nepal (BBIN) on the Motor Vehicles Agreement (MVA) concluded in New Delhi, India, on Tuesday. The meeting was held to realise the full potential of trade and people to people connectivity among the BBIN countries. It will foster greater sub-regional cooperation. During the meeting, an enabling memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to be signed by India, Bangladesh and Nepal for implementation of the BBIN MVA by the three countries, pending ratification of the MVA by Bhutan was finalised. Recalling the commitments made at the highest level for implementation of the BBIN MVA, the delegations expressed their desire to sign the MoU at the earliest to give momentum to the implementation. Bhutanese delegation led by Thinley Norbu, First Secretary, Royal Bhutanese Embassy in New Delhi participated in the meeting as an observer while Keshab Kumar Sharma, Joint Secretary, at the Ministry of Physical Infrastructure and Transport (MoPIT) led the Nepali delegation. Likewise, Smita Pant, Joint Secretary at Ministry of External Affairs led the Indian delegation and ATM Rokebul Haque, Director General (South Asia), Ministry of Foreign Affairs led the Bangladeshi delegation. The meeting was held to discuss the Passenger and Cargo Protocols that are essential to implement the BBIN Motor Vehicles Agreement (MVA) for the regulation of passenger, personal and cargo vehicular traffic among the four countries signed on June 15, 2015. This is the first meeting of the group since the outbreak of the Covid 19 pandemic. The last meeting was held in February 2020 in New Delhi. The countries emphasized the importance of implementing the BBIN MVA expeditiously to enable seamless movement among these countries for facilitating trade and people-to-people contact. Implementation of the MVA by concluding the Passenger and Cargo Protocol will help realise the full potential of trade and people to people connectivity between the BBIN countries by fostering greater sub-regional cooperation. The delegation agreed on specific steps and timelines to expeditiously finalise the Passenger and Cargo Protocols for the implementation of the BBIN MVA. Asian Development Bank provided technical and knowledge support to the meeting. RSS/ANI READ ALSO:

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