KOLKATA / AGARTALA, Dec 2 (TIWN): Union Road Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari on Wednesday said the central government was working towards inking an agreement with Myanmar and Thailand for seamless flow of traffic across the region. Addressing participants in a car rally, held to promote the Bangladesh-Bhutan-India-Nepal (BBIN) agreement on uninterrupted cargo movement in the region, Gadkari said the central government is investing Rs.1 lakh crore in the northeastern region for road projects. "We've pledged to develop road projects worth about Rs 1 lakh crore in the North-East. I am happy to announce that we've already started road construction projects worth Rs 16,000 crore. We believe it'll benefit the North East in a big way." Congratulating the rally drivers in Kolkata, Gadkari said: "It's a big achievement for all of us. We'll do a motor agreement for seamless traffic across the four nations.

" The minister said the Kolkata-Dhaka-Agartala bus service that was flagged off in June has strengthened tourism and the mutual ties.

"Going forward, we would want to have roads from northeast to Burma (Myanmar) and then Thailand. We are trying to settle in an agreement. The routes will help tourism and trade will flourish," he said at the concluding ceremony of the BBIN Friendship Motor Rally here.

The rally covered about 4,500 km following the route of road networks laid out during the BBIN-Motor Vehicle Agreement signed between the four nations at Thimpu in Bhutan in June.

Stressing the importance of road network, Gadkari said the central government was keen to develop the infrastructure in the northeast.

"We have decided to invest Rs.1 lakh crore in northeast for road projects. We are also very happy to announce that road construction worth Rs.16,000 crore has already started. I hope the northeast will benefit a lot from this," he said.

The BBIN rally, comprising 80 participants in 20 Toyota SUVs, was flagged off in Bhubaneswar on November 14, which made its way through Ranchi, Patna, Siliguri, Thimphu in Bhutan, Chittagong and Dhaka in Bangladesh before culminating in Kolkata late last night 
The first-of-its-kind rally was organised by the Bhubaneswar-based Kalinga Motors Sports Club, in association with the Union Ministry of Road Transport. 

"We have also made an agreement with Bangladesh over using the Brahmaputra, which will also help in business and economy. We also hope in future that we will have water-passenger transport for travelling from India to Bangladesh," he said.

"We will not only build bridges, but bridge hearts as well," added the minister.