Bhutan is considering rejoining the Bangladesh-Bhutan-India-Nepal Motor
Vehicles Agreement (BBIN MVA) process soon, the foreign ministry has said.
A Bhutanese delegation conveyed the development to a meeting on the
implementation of the BBIN MVA held in Dhaka on Tuesday-Wednesday.
The “Regulation of Passenger, Personal and Cargo Vehicular Traffic”
agreement between Bangladesh, Bhutan, India and Nepal was signed on
June 15, 2015 in Thimphu, Bhutan. All parties except Bhutan could ratify the
agreement.

Why do we need BBIN MVA?
South Asia has some of the lowest intraregional trade rates in the world,
with barely five percent of the overall trade in the region. Notably, there are
significant obstacles to overcome.
The BBIN MVA seeks to facilitate the free flow of people, goods, and
vehicles between and among the BBIN countries. All the delegates in Dhaka
expressed hope that the BBIN MVA will open a new era for physical
connectivity among the countries of this sub-region.

Bhutan’s reasons for not joining??
The Bhutanese feared that the implementation of the deal would lead to an
influx of vehicles from other countries impacting its own transporters and
degradation of environment. Considering, Bhutan already has a bilateral
arrangement for seamless vehicle movement with India, with whom it
shares 90 per cent of the trade; the fears were over vehicles coming from Bangladesh and Nepal. But yes, many do believe that it was China
pressuring Bhutan to not join it.