At the 18th OSCE Summit in Kathmandu in November 2014, India proposed an agreement on SAARC motor vehicles. Pakistan`s objections failed to reach an agreement. Instead, India followed a similar agreement with BBIN. The BBIN Motor Vehicles Agreement (MVA) was signed on 15 June 2015 at the BBIN Transport Ministers` Meeting in Thimpu, Bhutan. [29] [30] The agreement will allow Member States to transport their vehicles on the territory of the other cargo and passenger provider, including transport and passenger vehicles from third countries. Any vehicle would require electronic authorization to enter another country`s territory and border security agreements between the borders of nations are maintained. [31] Freight vehicles can enter each of the four nations without the need to transfer goods from one country to another at the border. Under the system, cargo vehicles are electronically tracked, authorizations are issued online and sent electronically to all land ports. Vehicles are equipped with an electronic seal that alerts regulators every time the container door is opened. [30] The Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Nepal (BBIN) initiative is a sub-regional architecture of countries in Southeast Asia, a sub-region of South Asia.
It meets through the official representation of Member States to formulate, implement and review four-party agreements in areas such as water resource management, electrical connectivity, transport and infrastructure. [1] The agreement enters into force after being ratified by the four Member States. The agreement was ratified by Bangladesh, India and Nepal. The lower house of the Bhutanese Parliament approved the agreement in early 2016, but was rejected by the House of Lords in November 2016. [31] Bhutan has requested that the number of vehicles entering its territory be capped. [34] In May 2017, the media reported that the Bhutanese government had ordered the Indian government to continue the agreement without Bhutan, as the Bhutanese government was unable to ratify the agreement in the House of Lords because of objections from opposition parties. [35] Opponents of the measure in Bhutan said the agreement would increase the movement of vehicles from other countries, affecting Bhutanese truck drivers and also causing environmental damage. A bilateral agreement between Bhutan and India already allows for smooth movement between the two countries. Therefore, Bhutan`s decision not to ratify BBIN MVA would only affect its trade with Nepal and Bangladesh.
The Bhutanese government has asked other BBIN members to continue the agreement and has also said it will try to ratify the MVA after the country has held parliamentary elections in 2018. Due to the strained relations between Bhutan and Nepal, the Tshering Tobgay government feared that the registration of Nepalese trucks for Bhutan would anger voters. [36] India called Bhutan`s decision a « reverse » and not a « rejection » of the agreement, which states that it is natural that not all members progress at the same pace and that India will continue its engagement with Bhutan on this issue. [37] [38] Informal discussions have resulted in a new consensus on sub-regional relations outside bilateral agreements, in part due to the persistent failure of existing systems. [7] At a summit in Kathmandu in November 2014, an agreement on land transport by regional states was approved, with the exception of one country`s reservations that led it to fail. The Subsequent Summit Declaration confirmed sub-regional measures that help strengthen ties. A framework for cooperation was then established with the first meeting of the Joint Working Group (JWG) in January 2015. [8] [9] They met last week in New Delhi to discuss a project to enable Bangladesh, India and Nepal to implement BBIN MVA without a commitment to Bhutan. This opens a new era of neighbourhood cooperation in this sub-region.