After upper house veto, Bhutan government tries again to put regional vehicle pact on track

NEW DELHI: The Bhutanese government has launched fresh efforts to ratify BBIN Motor Vehicle Agreement (MVA) days after the Upper House of the Himalayan Kingdom’s Parliament vetoed the regional connectivity pact that is being billed as an alternative to stalled SAARC road agreement.

The government at Thimpu is viewing the sub-regional grouping of Bangladesh, Bhutan, India and Nepal (BBIN) as an alternative to the SAARC for better economic cooperation. And despite internal setbacks, the government is determined to ratify the BBIN MVA, which it says will open gates for cooperation in other sectors, senior government sources from Thimpu indicated to ET.

BBIN, according to Bhutan government sources, is not just about MVA as Thimpu believes that the MVA is the precursor to cooperation in other fields including connectivity, energy, trade and ICT. There might a joint sitting of both Houses of Bhutan’s Parliament under the King to deliberate on the objections raised by the Upper House, indicated persons familiar with the developments.

Last week Bhutan’s Home Minister Dawa Gyaltshen told the country’s National Assembly or Lower House that the other three members of BBIN could go ahead and implement the MVA even if Bhutan does not ratify it.

The House was deliberating the objections of the National Council (NC) or Upper House of Bhutan against the MVA. The Upper House last month voted against its ratification. The NC fears that ratification of the agreement poses several environmental and security risks in the immediate and long-term future. The NA has, however, ratified the MVA.

The MVA allows for cross-border movement of passenger, personal and cargo vehicles on authorised routes within the sub-region.

Bhutan is the only country that has not ratified the agreement even as Bangladesh and India have conducted dry run of cargo truck under MVA. The Bhutan government is of the view that the country will miss an important opportunity to not only be an active member of BBIN but also miss out on the economic benefits of regional cooperation if it does not ratify the agreement, government sources from Thimpu said.

The four countries of BBIN have already agreed to deepen cooperation in energy and railways. The BBIN MVA was inked in June 2015 in Thimphu by the transport ministers of member states.

BBIN MVA has also plans to link with India-Myanmar-Thailand (IMT) road agreement giving Nepal, Bhutan and Bangladesh access to Southeast Asia. BBIN MVA was mooted following Pakistan’s intransigence on blocking SAARC MVA as well as Railways Pact.

The NC while vetoing MVA claimed that the government did not carry out comprehensive consultations with stakeholders on the proposed pact.