Bangladesh, India and Nepal have finalised an enabling memorandum of understanding (MoU), to be signed by the three countries, for implementation of the much-awaited Motor Vehicles Agreement (MVA), to facilitate the movement of goods and people between them.
The decision was made at a two-day meeting attended by senior officials of Bangladesh, India and Nepal in New Delhi on Monday and Tuesday, said the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) of India on Wednesday.
Bhutan remains adamant not to endorse the agreement considering its environment. However, Bhutan attended the meeting as an observer.
This was the first meeting of the sub-regional group since the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic. The last meeting of BBIN was held in February 2020 in New Delhi.
According to the MEA, the meeting discussed the protocols to operationalise the Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, and Nepal (BBIN) Motor Vehicles Agreement for the regulation of passenger, personal, and cargo vehicular traffic between Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, and Nepal, signed on June 15, 2015.
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, MEA said.
The Indian delegation was led by MEA Joint Secretary Smita Pant, while the Bangladesh delegation was led by the Director General (South Asia) of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, ATM Rokebul Haque.
The Nepalese delegation was headed by Keshab Kumar Sharma, Joint Secretary, Ministry of Physical Infrastructure and Transport, while the Bhutanese observer team was led by Thinley Norbu, First Secretary, Royal Bhutanese Embassy in New Delhi.