The third joint secretary level transport talks between Nepal and India concluded Thursday without an agreement. "There was a lot of progress on a lot of areas, and we need to fintetune it at a diplomatic level," one top official told us. Nepal agreed to a joint venture partnership to run the Inland Container Port (ICD) in Birganj in exchange for other concessions, but that didn't seem to satisfy the Indians who were under heavy pressure from state transport lobbies to allows direct cargo and passenger services between Indian cities and Kathmandu. The port is critical for landlocked Nepal's access to the sea, and would reduce transportation cost by up to 35 percent. India linked the Nepal-India Railways Agreement (NIRA) with the transport proposal. Nepali transporters, alarmed by the prospect of Indian trucks and buses having unrestricted access to the domestic market with no reciprocity, threatened a nationwide strike. "It's totally absurd to link direct transport access and ICD," said Bishnu Siwakoti, President of the Federation of Nepali Transport Entrepreneurs. The railway agreement is more important for Nepal, since the ICD has been lying idle ever since the World-Bank funded project was completed two years ago. As a compromise, the Nepali side now appears willing to go along with joint management if that is what it takes to get the negotiations unstuck. Nepal has also insisted on a streamlined one-time lock system ensuring direct entry of the containers to Nepal once they have been inspected and locked at customs in Kolkata.