Q. What does BBIN stand for in the context of motor vehicles agreement?- Published on 09 May 17a. Bangladesh-Bhutan-India-Nepal
b. Bhutan-Bangladesh-India-Nepal
c. Burma-Bhutan-India-Nepal
d. Burma-Bangladesh-India-Nepal
ANSWER: Bangladesh-Bhutan-India-Nepal
India is back at the drawing board on BBIN (Bangladesh-Bhutan-India-Nepal) Motor Vehicles Agreement (MVA), an ambitious sub-regional transport project, even as Bhutan has shelved it for the time being.
The BBIN, which is promoted by India and aimed at creating seamless connectivity between the four countries for enhanced sub-regional trade and movement of people, suffered a blow on April 29, with Bhutan announcing that it will not be able to ratify the plan before it addresses some of concerns raised domestically over the project.
Just that India and the other three countries will have to redraw plan.
They can join it once they are ready, but as a new member.
With the final approval from Bhutan, the plan would have come into force.
The lower house of Bhutanese Parliament had also rejected it in November last year but there were hopes that the Upper House would approve it.
The joint working group on BBIN, which was due to meet this month, will now meet next month to redesign the routes. This is because, as per the present plan, some corridors are starting from Paro and Phuentsholing in Bhutan connecting Dhaka and then Kolkata.
Thereafter, protocols have to be amended by India, Bangladesh and Nepal separately, after which, each of these countries will have to pass the edited protocols through their respective Parliaments because this is an international agreement.
The reason behind Bhutan’s hesitance to sign the pact now is because of environmental concerns raised by a section of the country’s citizens.
Ironically, the deal was signed in Thimpu on June 15, 2015, as part of the commitments made in the 18th SAARC Summit held in Kathmandu, Nepal.
The larger MVA project is aimed at connecting all those countries that share land borders.
The BBIN MVA is also touted to be the cornerstone for Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s ‘Look East’ strategy in his key foreign policy initiatives.
India’s share in sub-regional trade is over 90 per cent.
In 2015, India’s volume of total trade with BBIN countries was about $10.82 billion, of which exports accounted for $9.35 billion and the remaining was India’s import from BBIN, according to the IMF.
