MEDIA reports on Tuesday said Bangladesh, Bhutan, India and Nepal have signed an agreement for trans-border movement of vehicles opening the dawn of a new era to allow trucks, buses and private cars to carry goods, passengers and individuals from one country to another with valid travel documents. They have mapped out a six-month action plan starting in July to establish a seamless movement procedure of vehicles across their territories. Transport ministers of the four countries, who signed the deal in Bhutanese capital Thimphu on Monday have also identified 30 transport corridors to be transformed into economic corridors. This will potentially increase intra-regional trade within South Asia by almost 60 percent and with the rest of the world by over 30 percent, according to a joint statement.
What is more pleasing to the people in Bangladesh and also to the three other countries is that they can move to their neighbours now easily by roads through formal immigration points. Goods will also move by land to one another to flourish inland trade. That was not open so far in a climate of suspicion and security risks in a highly restrictive political climate by keeping nationals in every country isolated from another. This isolation is about to go now with the opening of the transit using the land connectivity. We welcome the landmark agreement and look forward that it would come into effect soon through successful negotiations of transit tariff and such other charges.
Now building the road and highway infrastructures for the four-nation network would be a gigantic task; which may require up to $8 billion as per some estimates in the first place. The four countries would have their part of the infrastructure development plan and responsible to complete it in their respective territories by their own fund with donors’ support. The Asian Development Bank (ADB); which is pushing the regional connectivity over the years has the basic development plan in hand and reports said a number of the road corridors, which also include bridges, have either been already upgraded or under construction. Preparations are afoot to launch the four nations connectivity by January next year.
Meanwhile, people here also tend to take positively the trial run of a vehicle from Thimphu to Kolkata using Guwahati-Shillong-Sylhet-Dhaka-Benapole route. It will be implemented soon to open the route and also to survey the road condition through the long way. The four nations connectivity is going to open overcoming many reservations and resistance from different quarters. They have their reasons but the connectivity is also the need of the time and the best way all these reservations may come to an end is how the parties would settle exploitation fear, protection to our roads and highways and tariff issue particularly by our big neighbour. Let us hope that the highways of hope don’t turn into highways of plunder — whereby money leaves our lands at a faster rate.
