SAARC Car rally kinks of tomorrow from Bangladesh

New Delhi, Mar 14 (UNI) The first ever SAARC Car Rally, aimed at showcasing the oneness and diversity as well as trade, investment and tourism potential of the South Asian region, kicks off from Bangladesh tomorrow.

Thirty Tata Safaris, carrying about 120 participants from South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) countries will cover over 8200 km across varying terrain in the sub-continent over a 30-day period.

The Rally, which is being organised by the Ministry of External Affairs in partnership with Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), will be flagged off from Cox's Bazar (Bangladesh) by the Chief Advisor to the Government of Bangladesh, Dr Fakruddin Ahmed.

The initiative was first mooted by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in the 2005 Dhaka SAARC summit.

''India offers to hold a South Asian car Rally. This would be a run up to our next Summit. It would symbolise vividly our regional identity and also draw attention to the urgent need to improve our SAARC transport infrastructure,'' Dr Singh had said on that occasion.

The idea received overwhelming support from all other Member states and all countries pledged complete logistics and hospitality support for the success of the Rally.

The Rally will reach here on April 2, coinciding with the SAARC Summit and would be flagged off on April 3 by the SAARC leaders for its onward journey towards Sri Lanka and Maldives.

The night halts that have been planned on the Rally route in India are: Jaigaon (West Bengal) on March 18, Guwahati (Asom) on March 21, Siliguri (West Bengal) on March 22, Ramnagar (Uttarakhand) on March 26, Chandigarh on March 27, Amritsar (Punjab) on March 31, New Delhi on April 1 and 2, Jaipur (Rajasthan) on April 3, Udaipur (Rajasthan) on April 4, and Mumbai on April 5, 6 and 7, a PIB release said.

The Route: Bangladesh (March 15-18) India (March 18-19)-Bhutan (March 19-21) India (March 21-23) Nepal (March 23-26) India (March 26-28) Pakistan (March 28-31) India (March 31- April 7) Sri Lanka (April 10-13) Maldives (April 13-14).

UNI