Dhaka meet fails to finalise BBIN MVA protocol deal

 A much-rehearsed road traffic through Bangladesh, Bhutan, India and Nepal under a motor vehicle agreement (MVA) looks long way off as a latest meeting of the four nations failed to finalise the operational protocol.
Officials said the Dhaka meet of the official-level working group of Bangladesh-Bhutan-India-Nepal (BBIN) bloc could not finalise the protocol of passenger-vehicle movement for a virtual backspin of one member-country over ratification of the deal.
 At the two-day talks, which concluded Wednesday, the members discussed various issues on the draft protocol, like routes, facilities, transit, security, and authority.
Meeting sources said they could not come to agreement due to uncertainty still looming over effect of the MVA as Bhutan has yet to ratify it.
The agreement was signed in Bhutan on June 15, 2015 by transport ministers of the four South Asian nations. For the MVA to take effect its ratification by all the member-countries is a must.
Sources said the joint-secretary level meeting took decision to sit again in July, or afterwards, observing the developments in Bhutan.
The lower house of parliament of the Himalayan country is expected to resume its summer session end of May and end in June, they said.
"In every case, the issue of ratification has come up first," said Abdul Malek, Joint Secretary of Road Transport and Highways Division who led the Bangladesh delegation in the meeting.
He said the meeting concluded after discussing the draft protocols and getting opinions from respective countries.
Officials who attended the meeting said finally the members set a timeframe to share the draft again with respective stakeholders during the period and hand over to the Asian Development Bank -- the financier of the scheme on sub-regional cooperation in trans-border movement of people and freight transport by road.
The second meeting of the BBIN working group was called to finalise the Protocol for Movement of Regular, Non-regular and Personal Vehicles of BBIN and discuss Protocol for Movement of Cargo Vehicles.
Earlier, a draft protocol was formulated with the help of ADB as it, since initiative to establish regional connectivity was taken, has been assisting the South Asian nations in this regard.
From the Bangladesh side, the Ministry of Road Transport and Bridges led the meeting. Representatives were drawn from Prime Minister's Office, ministries of Finance, Law, Foreign, Commerce, and ICT, the National Board of Revenue, Land Port Authority, Roads and Highways Department, Bangladesh Road Transport Corporation and Bangladesh Road Transport Authority.
Five to six members from each of Bhutan, India, and Nepal participated in the working-group meeting with Bhutanese High Commissioner in Bangladesh, a joint secretary of the Indian central government and the deputy director of road transport ministry of Nepal leading respective delegation.
Since the signing of the BBIN MVA, the two Himalayan nations had refrained from ratifying the deal.
Though Nepal completed the procedure of ratification end of December, winter session of the Bhutanese parliament concluded without ratification, thus delaying the process at least six months.
The Bhutanese opposition party in parliament recommended the formation of a committee to review the necessity and impact of MVA from the Himalayan country context.
But the Bhutanese-delegation members assured the meeting of possibility of having ratification done in the next session, sources added.
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