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Bangladesh has launched a trial operation of the route connecting four neighbouring countries – Bangladesh, Bhutan, India and Nepal (BBIN). Jahangir Alam, additional secretary to Road Transport and Highways Division, flagged off a cargo vehicle on Saturday to India as a formality of the launching.
The vehicle will travel to India’s Alipur from Kamalapur international bus depot in Dhaka. The covered van carrying garment products will travel to the Indian town of Alipur via the Indian cities of Kolkata and Delhi.
India is also likely to begin a test operation of the route tomorrow by sending a vehicle with passengers from Kolkata to the Bangladeshi city of Khulna.
Officials said the vehicle would enter India through Benapole-Petrapole border. The route is the result of a motor vehicles agreement signed by the four South Asian nations last year.
Expo Freight Ltd (EFL), a freight forwarding and logistical solution company of Bangladesh, along with Nazrul Transport Ltd is operating the cargo services during the trial. The detailed route agreed for the trial is Dhaka-Magura-Jessore-Benapole/Petrapole (India)-Kolkata (India)-Delhi (India).
Representatives from EFL Bangladesh and Nazrul Transport would escort the covered van bound for India under the first trial, the officials said.
The capacity of the covered van designated for this trial run is 30 cubic metre (7 tonne). The motor vehicles agreement was signed in June 2015, which allows free movement of motor vehicles between the four countries.
Before the deal, vehicular movement in the region was restricted. The transport ministers of all the four nations collectively came together and signed the agreement as a gesture of goodwill, and building better international relations, said people related with the agreement.
BBIN agreement is expected to increase intra-regional trade within South Asia by almost 30% and with the rest of the world by over 30%.
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