Soon, a long drive From Kolkata to Bangkok may be possible

BBIN or Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, and Nepal has sealed a Motor Vehicle Agreement that will make it easy for commuters to travel all the way from Kolkata to Bangkok.  "We are hoping that once the election process in Myanmar is over we should have this agreement sealed in March or April next year," said Vijay Chibber, the Union Road Transport and Highways Ministry, in Kolkata for the cargo flag-off. The pact will be signed at Batam in Myanmar which goes to polls onNovember 8. The India Myanmar Thailand pact is parallel to BBIN which is, meanwhile, hoping to see a spurt in regional trade. 

"Particularly for the small and medium enterprises who are eyeing that market this will definitely give a big boost," said Ambarish Dasgupta, KPMG chief in Kolkata. Alapan Bandopadhyay, principal secretary, West Bengal, said, "With the Partition, Bengal was suddenly truncated and pushed to a periphery of the Indian polity. If regional integration comes, with Bengal as a fulcrum, then we again regain international, economic networking leverage."