BBIN discuss passenger and cargo protocols

India, Bangladesh, Bhutan and Nepal held a two-day meeting here to discuss passenger and cargo protocols to operationalise the BBIN Motor Vehicles Agreement (MVA) for the regulation of passenger, personal and cargo vehicular traffic among the participant countries,

Bhutan participated as an observer in the meeting.

BBIN agreement was signed on 15 June 2015 and the last meeting was held in February 2020 in New Delhi. While other countries have endorsed the agreement, Bhutan pulled out fearing large Indian truck flocking to Bhutan will damage the pristine environment. 

Recalling the commitments made at the highest level for the implementation of the BBIN MVA, the delegations expressed their desire to sign the MoU at the earliest to give momentum to the implementation.

The delegates also agreed on specific steps and timelines to expeditiously finalise the passenger and cargo protocols for the implementation of the BBIN MVA.

The Bhutanese observer team was led by Thinley Norbu, First Secretary, Royal Bhutanese Embassy in New Delhi.