Dhaka is trying to convince Yangon to construct the road so that it could establish direct road link with the Chinese city of Kunming through
Monday December 14 2009 07:11:56 AM BDT
Bangladesh is expected to settle its entry in the Asian Highway network at an upcoming meeting of Asian transport ministers scheduled to be held in Bangkok next week, said communication minister Abul Hossain on Sunday.(The New Age BD)
Dhaka has sought accession to the multilateral treaty last August, but still requires support from two neighboring countries to complete the formalities.
The previous political regime of BNP-led government did not ratify the mega transport project the deadline for which expired in December 2005.
It is expected that supports from India and Myanmar could be obtained at the Bangkok meetings to be held on December 17-18, the communication minister told New Age.
Abul Hossain said it would be the culmination of the Awami League-led government’s initiative to join the UN-sponsored Asian Highway network that would cover 141,000 kms across 32 Asian countries from Tokyo to Ankara.
Bangladesh Nationalist Party, the main political opposition, opposes the Asian Highway link-up saying it would provide ‘transit’ to India for its northeastern region.
BNP which had opted not to sign the treaty demanded promotion of a sub-regional route, Kolkata-Dhaka-Myanmar, as the main route for joining the Asian Highway.
Two other proposed routes announced as the main routes by the Asian Highway authorities would connect only India and Bangladesh.
Abul Hossain observed that the promotion of the proposed sub-regional route as the main route would depend on Myanmar and construction of nearly 1,000 kms roads inside the military-ruled country.
Dhaka is trying to convince Yangon to construct the road so that it could establish direct road link with the Chinese city of Kunming through Myanmar, he said.
http://newsfrombangladesh.net/view.php?hidRecord=296897
Dhaka hopes to settle entry to Asian Highway next week
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