The second round of the SAARC Transport Ministers' meeting will be held in Colombo in the first week of September to push forward a Regional Motor Vehicle Agreement to enable barrier-free movement across borders and work on identified regional transport connectivity corridors. The idea is to facilitate movement between neighbouring countries and to create dedicated transport corridors in the region.Taking off from the first meet in New Delhi last year, the second round will work on finalising the proposals. India had put forward a draft proposal for the regional Motor Vehicle Agreement that would allow people to drive to neighboring countries for short visits or hire a driver who has the required permit to operate in both countries. The draft agreement was modeled on the arrangement at the European Union that opted for a common transport policy in the initial years removing obstacles at the borders between member states to facilitate free movement of persons and goods. The objective, say officials, is to ensure better access to the states and boost trade. Each nation would identify specific entry points for movement of passengers and goods and sort out protocol, security and customs related issues in line with the agreement that would be put before the transport ministries of all member nations at the month end.“We have already received comments on the proposal from all SAARC nations and will address these in the meeting at Colombo. Concerns have been raised over the vehicle registration process to be followed in view of such an agreement and we are examining these. A final agreement would be drafted after the observations are examined and discussed at the Colombo meet,” said a senior official.Besides the Motor Vehicle Agreement, several rail/road/air corridors identified by the SAARC nations in last year’s meet will also be discussed. India had recommended road and rail corridors along the Nepal-India-Bangladesh circuit and air connectivity to Male and Islamabad. Bhutan had called for prioritisation of the Phuentsholing-Hashimara link while Sri Lanka had suggested that a rail corridor be set up between Chennai and Colombo along with a ferry service linking Colombo and Cochin. The Report of the SAARC Regional Multimodal Transport Study prepared and funded by the Asian Development Bank will also be discussed.Pilot projects on the agendaBhutan• Link between Phuentsholing and Hashimara• Procurement of customs related equipment for faster clearance of cargo.India• Birgunj-Katihar-Singhabad-Rohanpur-Chittagong road links to Jogbani, Biratnagar and Agartala• Kathmandu-Birgunj-Kolkata/Haldia road link• Agartala-Akhaura-Chittagong road link• Air-connectivity: Malé-New Delhi and Islamabad-New DelhiSri Lanka• Rail corridor between Colombo and Chennai• Ferry service between Colombo and Cochin• Colombo and Tuticorin as two pilot projects
