The transport ministers of Bangladesh, India and Nepal jointly called on Lyonchhen Tshering Tobgay on the sidelines of the Meeting of BBIN Transport Ministers at Hotel Le Meridian in Thimphu, today.
After exchanging pleasantries, Lyonchhen conveyed that despite very busy schedules, their presence in the country indicated the level of commitment, not just in facilitating transport but also regional integration between the four countries.
Lyonchhen thanked the ministers for their assiduous efforts in making the Motor Vehicles Agreement (MVA) a success and expressed that this integration strongly reverberated in the whole sub-region. The MVA is the first sub-regional agreement within SAARC and Lyonchhen said that by signing this agreement between the four countries, a strong message has been sent to SAARC that ‘together, we can’.
Lyonchhen added that BBIN and SAARC altogether must join hands and devise ways to counter pollution and its adverse effects on nature by investing in sustainable transport. Lyonchhen reiterated that such cooperation would go a long way in combating global climate change.He said that our sub-region has agreatpotential to generate renewable energy and it was crucial for the countries work together as meaningfully as possible.
Nepal’s Transport Minister conveyed the personal messages of the Nepali Prime Minister and people in appreciation for Bhutan’s role in helping those affected by the recent earthquake mishaps in their country.
He said Lyonchhen’s personal visit to Nepal at times of crises was highly appreciated. To this, Lyonchhen said that Bhutan played a nominal role yet, the country shared similar sentiments with rest of the world and especially the countries in the sub-region.
Bangladesh’s Transport Minister said that he was very happy to be in Bhutan and expressed his gratitude to RGoB for being the first country to recognize Bangladesh as an independent country in 1971. He also spoke about furthering people-to-people contact.
India’s Transport Minister said that MVA was a good start and that the countries should ‘learn’ from Lyonchhen on managing ‘pollution’.
The transport ministers conveyed their happiness of being in Bhutan and accorded mutual consent on further augmenting people-to-people contact and economic progress.
