Transport ministers from South Asian countries are set to meet in Nepal in June to give the final nod to the much-talked-about Saarc Regional Motor Vehicle Agreement and Saarc Railway Agreement.
The meeting is scheduled to be held on June 24 in Kathmandu, while separate meetings of senior officials and expert groups will also be held on June 23 and June 22 respectively, said a senior official of the Foreign Ministry.
“It is less likely that the agreements will be signed in the June ministerial meeting. They are expected to be signed at the next Saarc summit,” he said.
At last October’s Saarc Intergovernmental Group meeting in New Delhi, the member states agreed on the texts of motor vehicles and railways agreements to improve connectivity in the region.
Bangladesh eventually completed its internal process to sign the agreements; but despite hectic negotiations on the agreements during the 17th Saarc Summit in Kathmandu last November, those could not be signed because of resistance from Pakistan.
At the summit, it was decided that the transport ministers would meet by February to give the agreements a final shape, but now the meeting will be held in June.
In the motor vehicle agreement, it was proposed how private cars, commercially-run buses, ambulances and commercial cargoes could move across the region.
The draft text also stipulated that drivers must have special driving licences, cars must have certain fitness level and there must be a regional insurance coverage for any accident.
Respective taxation offices of these countries would deal with only transit fees and charges as well as other customs, the draft recommended.
Meanwhile, the railway agreement would provide a framework under which the member states could facilitate train movement across the region.
