Four-country road network by next year: Quader

Road Transport Minister Obaidul Quader has said inter-country road links between Bangladesh, India, Nepal and Bhutan will be opened by next year.

The minister said this after a meeting with Bhutanese delegation led by its Ambassador to Bangladesh Pema Choden at the secretariat on Tuesday.

After the meeting the road minister told the reporters that a secretary-level meeting would be held in Bhutan’s capital Thimpu on Jun 14 regarding signing of a deal to introduce road transportation between the four countries.

The next day, at the ministerial-level meeting, the ‘Motor Vehicle Transport Agreement’ would be signed, he said.

But the movement of vehicles across these four SAARC nations would not be possible until next year as it might take a few months to prepare the protocol, the minister hinted.

After the signing of the agreement the protocol about security and other issues would be worked out in details, he said.

“I hope we can travel (after the deal) in 2016. Visa and immigration formalities would be followed as per international norms,” he added.

Terming it as a ‘historical step’ the minister said, “The agreement will be signed in line with the European Union model. This will take the ‘people to people contact’ and ‘road connectivity’ into a different level.

“The agreement will include transportation of private, public and cargo vehicles.”

Asked about the mutual benefits of the agreement, Quader said the amount of tariff, if determined at all, would be set after discussion and according to the International law.

Obaidul Quader hoped Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit would ‘ease’ the procedure of obtaining Indian visa, when asked about the hassle of getting visas.

On Jun 6, Narendra Modi is scheduled to arrive at Dhaka on a two-day visit. During his visit, several agreements including those facilitating trade and business between the countries would be signed.

Ambassador Pema Choden said, “Transport ministers of the four countries are going to meet in Thimpu to sign a ‘Motor Vehicle Transport Agreement’. I have come to invite the minister for that.”

At present, there is no direct road link to Nepal and Bhutan from Bangladesh. To go to these two countries, people from Bangladesh need to go via India only after changing vehicles at border points.