Beijing: India today (Apr 27, 2004) signed a historic international agreement for completing a 1,40,000 km-long Asian Highway Network, which will significantly promote regional integration and cooperation.

Apart from India, countries like Pakistan, China, Iran, Indonesia, Japan, Mongolia, Kazakhstan, South Korea, Turkey and Vietnam signed the inter-Governmental agreement at the ministerial segment of the 60th session of the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP), which is currently meeting in Shanghai.

The highway will connect capitals, major ports, commercial centres and tourist sites of Asian nations.

After its completion by 2010, vehicles from Tokyo can travel directly to Istanbul. Even island countries like Japan, Philippines and Sri Lanka, will be linked through ferries to mainland countries.

"The signing of agreement on Asian highways is a landmark event," Commerce Secretary Dipak Chatterjee, who is leading the Indian delegation to the ESCAP session, said.

The highway will further facilitate border crossing for people, vehicles and goods, and also impart crucial benefits to landlocked countries.

The Bangkok-based UNESCAP has been negotiating routes and road specifications for the network since 1992. The new accord is the ESCAP's first inter-Governmental agreement since it was established 57 years ago.