25-Jul-2020: India-European Union Agreement on Scientific and Technological Cooperation renewed for next five years (2020-2025)

India and European Union have renewed its Agreement on Scientific and Technological Cooperation for the next five years (2020-2025). This has been done by exchange of Note Verbale between two sides. The Agreement was initially signed in on 23 November 2001 and renewed two times in past in 2007 and 2015.

This will expand the cooperation in scientific and technological research strengthen the conduct of cooperative activities in areas of common interest and application of the results of such cooperation to their economic and social benefit.  Cooperative activities may take the forms of reciprocal participation of Indian research and European research entities in research, technological development, and demonstration projects under each other programme.

India & the European Union agreed to renew the Agreement on Scientific cooperation for the next five years, 2020-2025, at the 15th India-EU Summit, a virtual one which was led by  Prime Minister Sri Narendra Modi from India’s side. The European Union delegation was headed by European Council President Charles Michel and President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen.

India and European Union have strong research and innovation cooperation under the framework of said “Agreement,” and it has grown steadily over the years. In the last 5 years, the level of co-investment on India-EU Research Technology Development Projects for addressing societal challenges such as affordable healthcare, water, energy, food & nutrition has been stepped up resulted in several technologies, patents development, their gainful utilization, joint research publications, sharing of research facility and, exchange of scientists and students from both sides.

The cooperation has been focused on water, green transport, e-mobility, clean energy, circular economy, bio-economy, health, and ICT. Additional areas, such as climate change, sustainable urban development, manufacturing, advanced materials, nanotechnologies and biotechnology, food processing, and ocean research may also be considered in future endeavours.

The EU and India are at the forefront of human development and innovation. For India, addressing the basic needs of its people, including through frugal innovation, and excelling in high-tech markets are twin objectives. Both areas offer mutually beneficial opportunities for EU-India cooperation. Increased exchanges between students, researchers, and professionals would benefit both sides. India and the EU share a mutual interest in reciprocal mobility of talent.

The mobility of researchers and innovators would be promoted in both directions. The EU-India cooperation should also foster innovation by promoting networking between EU and Indian innovators, start-ups, incubators, and accelerators, by setting up joint platforms, both offline and virtual, and engaging in coaching, training and staff exchanges. Highly qualified workers could be integrated into Indian and EU-led innovation systems industries and help maintain technology-based leadership and sharing of best practices, internationalization of SMEs, and contributing in the global value chain.

9-Feb-2020: Joint Press Release on the Meeting of Bangladesh, Bhutan, India and Nepal on the Motor Vehicles Agreement (BBIN MVA)

A meeting of Bangladesh, Bhutan, India and Nepal on the BBIN MVA was held at New Delhi on 08 Feb 2020. Representatives of Bhutan participated in the meeting in an observer capacity as decided by the Royal Government of Bhutan earlier. The Bangladesh delegation was led by Mr. Mohammad Sarwar Mahmood, Director General (South Asia), Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The Nepalese delegation was led by Mr. Gopal Prasad Sigdel, Joint Secretary, Ministry of Physical Infrastructure and Transport. The Indian delegation was led by Mr. Vikram Doraiswami, Additional Secretary, Ministry of External Affairs. The Bhutanese observer team was led by Mr. Pem Tshering, Legal Officer, Ministry of Information and Communications. The meeting was held to discuss the passenger and cargo Protocols that are to give effect to the Motor Vehicles Agreement (MVA) for the Regulation of Passenger, Personal and Cargo Vehicular Traffic between Bangladesh, Bhutan, India and Nepal, signed on 15 June 2015. This is the first meeting of the group since their meeting in Bengaluru in January 2018, when the two Protocols were last discussed.

Delegations recalled commitments made at the highest political level for implementation of the BBIN MVA and the importance of trade, economic cooperation and people-to-people contact, through enhanced regional connectivity, including through facilitation of regional cross-border road transport. Delegations expressed satisfaction over progress made by each country in internal consultations with their stake-holders for the Protocol for movement of Passengers. Delegations also discussed in detail various aspects of the draft Protocol for movement of cargo vehicles, discussing the existing draft text jointly for the first time. In this regard, the three delegations reaffirmed their understanding that the BBIN MVA safeguards the rights and obligations of all parties under other international Agreements and bilateral agreements within the group, including those relating to landlocked countries.

The delegations also discussed a draft enabling MOU to be signed by Bangladesh, India and Nepal for implementation of the BBIN MVA by the three countries, bearing in mind the consent provided by the Royal Government of Bhutan for the entry into force of the MVA among Bangladesh, India and Nepal, without obligation to Bhutan, pending the completion by Bhutan of its internal procedures for ratification of the BBIN MVA. The delegations of Bangladesh, India and Nepal agreed to consider expediting the finalization of this MoU, expressing gratitude to Bhutan for offering its consent in this regard.

The meeting was held in a friendly and cordial atmosphere, with the delegations agreeing upon the need to expeditiously finalize the Passenger and Cargo Protocols for implementation of the BBIN MVA. The meeting agreed to endeavour to revert by May 2020 on the process of internal consultations by respective countries based on the discussions of the meeting.

15-Apr-2019: Bhutan govt to place bill for ratification of BBIN initiative at its upper senate

The Bhutan government will place the bill for ratification of Bangladesh-Bhutan-India-Nepal (BBIN) initiative for road and rail connectivity at its upper senate. Foreign Secretary of Bangladesh Shahidul Haq told reporters that BBIN is a big initiative in the region for improving rail and road connectivity in the region and he expressed the hope that the bill will be passed by the Bhutanese Parliament soon.

The Motor Vehicle Agreement of BBIN countries was signed in 2015 by the four member countries. Bangladesh, India and Nepal have implemented the agreement but Bhutan is yet to accord its ratification of the agreement.

15-Jan-2018: BBIN Motor Vehicles Agreement Regains Momentum

Bangladesh, India and Nepal have agreed on the text of the operating procedures for passenger vehicle movement in the sub-region under the Bangladesh-Bhutan-India-Nepal (BBIN) Motor Vehicles Agreement (MVA) signed in June 2015, and will soon complete the internal approval processes for signing of the passenger protocol. The participating countries have also agreed to conduct more trial runs for cargo vehicles under the agreement. High-level officials of the three countries discussed the implementation of the MVA at a meeting held on 10-11 January in Bengaluru, convened and chaired by the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH) of the Government of India. A Bhutanese official delegation also attended the meeting as observers.

The landmark MVA was signed by Transport Ministers of the BBIN countries in Thimphu, Bhutan on 15 June 2015.  Trial runs for cargo vehicles under the MVA were conducted along the Kolkata-Dhaka-Agartala and Delhi-Kolkata-Dhaka routes in the past. The trials were successful in establishing the Agreement’s economic benefits. Bangladesh, India, and Nepal have already ratified the MVA and have agreed to start implementation of the MVA among the three signatory countries, with Bhutan joining after it ratifies the Agreement.

India will do its best to make the MVA successful, making it a key instrument in accelerating cross-border trade and economic integration in the subregion.

The Asian Development Bank(ADB) has been providing technical, advisory, and financial support to the BBIN MVA initiative as part of its assistance to the South Asia Subregional Economic Cooperation (SASEC) program, a projects-based economic cooperation initiative that brings together the BBIN countries, Maldives, Sri Lanka and more recently, Myanmar. ADB is the secretariat of SASEC.

Bangladesh and Nepal, agreed on the text of the passenger protocol, the document detailing procedures for cross-border movement of buses and private vehicles, to be signed by the three countries after completing necessary internal approval processes in their government. The delegations also agreed to continue to conduct trial movement of cargo vehicles along scheduled routes from April 2018 onwards, before finalizing the protocol for cargo vehicular movement. All participating country delegations described the meeting as a major milestone in regaining the momentum of transport facilitation in the subregion.

27-Apr-2017: Bhutan withdraws from joining motor vehicle pact

India’s plan for a sub-regional motor vehicle agreement faced a setback, as the Bhutan government announced that it is not ready to go ahead with the process at present. It asked the other members of the ‘BBIN’ grouping — India, Bangladesh and Nepal — to continue to operationalise it without Bhutan.

Bhutan Prime Minister Tshering Tobgay’s decision to step out of the BBIN process comes on the back of severe domestic opposition to the motor vehicles agreement, primarily on fears of vehicular pollution and environmental degradation if trucks from neighbouring countries are given access to Bhutan, a country that prides itself on its “carbon neutrality” and preserving the environment.

As a result, despite the fact that the MVA agreement was signed on June 15, 2015, and ratified on its second attempt in the lower house in July 2016, the upper house in Bhutan voted it down in November 2016.

The Bhutan government statement signifies that Prime Minister Tobgay had also decided not to use the option of calling a joint house of parliament to push through the ratification, which India, Bangladesh and Nepal have already completed.