(BBIN) Motor Vehicle Agreement for the Regulation of Passenger, Personal and Cargo Vehicular Traffic

[Hindustani78]

http://www.hindustantimes.com/india...h-roadblock/story-3I2XsVh4K8jueNc7wc8ojJ.html

The ambitious sub-regional road connectivity plan involving Bangladesh, Bhutan, India and Nepal (BBIN), an initiative that was being pushed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi to boost regional integration, seems to have hit another roadblock.

After Bhutan decided not to ratify the BBIN motor vehicle (MV) agreement last year following domestic opposition, India had decided to operationalise the pact with the other two members — Bangladesh and Nepal.

But government sources said Bangladesh has now thrown a spanner to India’s plan by expressing its inability to come on board till the time Bhutan makes its “formal stance” on the agreement clear. Sources said Bangladesh backed out of the proposed meeting of the three countries called by India’s Union road transport and highways ministry on September 7-8 at Bangalore to finalise the protocol to make the MV agreement operational.

Though India, Bangladesh and Nepal have ratified the pact, unless protocols are finalised, the MV agreement cannot be implemented.

In a written communication to India, Bangladesh cited Article XVI of the BBIN which mandates that the MV agreement has to be ratified by all four countries to make it operational.

“Hence, without the formal consent of Bhutan, this provision technically restricts the other three countries to move ahead with the plan for phased implementation of the agreement,” the Bangladesh government has communicated to India.

The pact will allow seamless movement of passenger and cargo vehicles among the four countries.

Under the BBIN agreement the “contracting parties” will allow cargo vehicles for inter-country cargo including third country cargo and passenger vehicles or personal vehicles to ply in the territory of another contracting country “subject to the terms of the agreement”.

“In the above circumstances, the proposed three country meeting through the invitation of MoRTH, India at Bangalore would not be fruitful at this moment,” the communication further states.

The BBIN agreement was signed in Bhutan’s capital Thimpu in June 2015.

This is the second time that the Indian government’s sub regional road connectivity plan has hit a stumbling block. Earlier Pakistan scuppered the SAARC motor vehicle agreement by refusing to come on board.

Currently, India only has a bilateral motor vehicle agreement with Nepal and Bangladesh but a multilateral pact would go a long way in boosting trade in the region

 

[Hindustani78]

Actor Farhan Akhtar on a Vespa Red at the unveiling | Photo Credit: Paul Noronha

http://www.thehindu.com/business/In...-bangladesh/article19791860.ece?homepage=true
MUMBAI, October 03, 2017 21:56 IST
Updated: October 03, 2017 21:56 IST

To sell India-made scooters, CVs
Piaggio Vehicles Private Ltd (PVPL) which manufacturers two wheelers and commercial vehicles in India is planning to export these products to Sri Lanka and Bangladesh shortly, a top company executive said.

“We are already exporting to Nepal and South America. We are now gearing [up] to export scooters and CVs to Nepal and Bangladesh,” Diego Graffi, MD & CEO, PVPL, said. About 10% of its production is exported, he said.

“We have doubled the sales volumes in 2017 as compared to the previous year. We have expanded the distribution and are planning to introduce more products.”

Last month, the company sold 9,000 two wheelers and sales are expected to grow further, he said.

Piaggio introduced the Vespa Red in India on Tuesday as part of its partnership with RED organisation to fight against AIDS. This model is made exclusively for the Indian market.

Each purchase of the Vespa Red will trigger a $50 donation to the global fund to fight AIDS in India.

 

[Hindustani78]

http://www.hindustantimes.com/india...adesh-nepal/story-g0RPiKmWrqAt9BRJQvdibL.html

Bhutan which had inked the pact could not get public and parliamentary support for ratification of the agreement while India, Bangladesh and Nepal have already ratified the pact.
india Updated: Oct 15, 2017 12:38 IST
Press Trust of India, New Delhi

Proposals to start such services on Kathmandu-Bodhgaya, Janakpur-Patna and Dehradun-Mahendranagar routes are underway(HT File Photo )

India has embarked on implementation of the BBIN motor pact with Bangladesh and Nepal, Union minister Nitin Gadkari said on Sunday.

India in June 2015 had signed the major sub-regional transport project, Bangladesh-Bhutan-India-Nepal (BBIN) Motor Vehicles Agreement (MVA), for seamless transit of passenger and cargo vehicles among them. However, Bhutan could not get public and parliamentary support for it.

“We have initiated action for implementation of BBIN MVA by Bangladesh, India and Nepal. This has been taken up with the Ministry of External Affairs for coordinating with other two countries,” road transport, highways and hipping minister Gadkari told PTI.

The minister said that Bhutan has suggested that Bangladesh, India and Nepal may consider implementation of the MVA.

Bhutan which had inked the pact could not get public and parliamentary support for ratification of the agreement while India, Bangladesh and Nepal have already ratified the pact.

The four SAARC countries had in June 2015 signed the Motor Vehicle Agreement.

The pact aims at allowing motor vehicles of all categories registered in three countries to move freely in the region.

The government has earlier said that the pact will realise the ultimate objective of free movement of people and goods in the region and said that this would be supplemented through building and upgrading roads, railways and waterways infrastructure.

On bus services with Nepal and Bangladesh, Gadkari said proposals to start such services on Kathmandu-Bodhgaya, Janakpur-Patna and Dehradun-Mahendranagar routes are underway.

Bus services between Delhi and Kathmandu, Varanasi- Kathmandu, Delhi-Mahendranagar and Delhi-Pokhra have already been started. India and Nepal Bus Service pact was signed in November 2014.

“Between India and Bangladesh, bus services on Agartala-Dhaka, Kolkata-Dhaka, Guwahati-Shillong-Dhaka and Kolkata- Agartala via Dhaka are operational,” he said.