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Indian Express
20-05-2025
- Business
- Indian Express
Tripura holds high-level meeting to implement new restrictions on border trade with Bangladesh
Tripura Monday held a high-level meeting to discuss implementing the Centre's new restrictions on the import of certain products from Bangladesh through land ports. The meeting, chaired by Shailesh Kumar Yadav, Director, Tripura Industries and Commerce, highlighted the concerns related to the operations and procedures based on the Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) order that restricted import of some items through any Land Customs Stations or Integrated Check Posts (ICPs) in Assam, Meghalaya, Mizoram, and Tripura and LCS in West Bengal's Changrabandha and Fulbari. These items include garments, plastic goods, wooden furniture, fruit drinks, and processed food items. In the meeting, Yadav said that some items, including edible oil, fish, LPG, and crushed stone, from Bangladesh would not come under restriction. Officials of the Border Security Force (BSF), Customs, Immigration and other departments also attended the meeting. Trade representatives welcomed the move, and committed to comply with the restriction. Unlike the western border with Pakistan, India's eastern frontier with Bangladesh has been a friendly border for the last five decades until the fall of the Sheikh Hasina-led Awami League government in August last year and the rise of a chief advisor's rule and his recent comments. Chief Advisor Muhammad Yunus has said that if Bangladesh were destabilised, it would affect West Bengal and Northeast India. During his March visit to China, Yunus said with Northeast India being 'landlocked', Bangladesh was the 'only guardian of the ocean for all this region' — a statement widely interpreted as an attempt by Dhaka to assert its leverage over access to Northeast India — a matter of concern for Delhi. Leaders across the political spectrum have condemned these comments, terming them as indirect threats against India. Tripura shares an 856-km-long border with Bangladesh, parts of which are still unfenced due to local disputes.
India Gazette
18-05-2025
- Business
- India Gazette
India's land port restrictions aim to
New Delhi [India], May 18 (ANI): The Indian government has imposed land port restrictions on certain Bangladeshi exports to the northeastern states, a move that sources say is aimed at restoring 'equality in the relationship'. On late Saturday evening, India imposed immediate port restrictions on the import of several categories of goods from Bangladesh, following a directive issued by the Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT). The sources told ANI that while India had hitherto allowed all exports from Bangladesh without restrictions, the transit and market access to India's northeast region had been restricted by Bangladesh. 'This measure by India,' referring to the Saturday move, sources said, 'restores equal market access for both countries.' 'Bangladesh has been seeking equality in engagement with India,' the sources added. In this context, the sources further said that the relationship with Bangladesh will now be on 'reciprocal terms'. India limiting readymade garment imports from Bangladesh to only two seaports--Kolkata and Nhava Sheva (Mumbai)--is, according to the sources, a reciprocal measure to Bangladesh -- which had imposed similar trade restrictions on Indian yarn and rice, besides selectively enhancing inspection on all Indian goods exported to Bangladesh. The sources further noted that Bangladesh needs to realise that 'it cannot cherry pick terms of bilateral trade solely for its benefit or assume North East is a captive market for its exports, while denying it market access and transit.' 'As underlined by Prime Minister Modi, the NorthEast is integral to BIMSTEC. The equal market space now available in the resource-rich northeast is expected to give a fillip to manufacturing and entrepreneurship in the region under the Atmanirbhar Bharat schemes and policies,' one of the sources said. Under the new DGFT directive, all kinds of ready-made garments from Bangladesh can now only be imported through the Nhava Sheva and Kolkata seaports, with entry through land ports no longer permitted. Additionally, the import of items such as fruit-flavoured and carbonated drinks, processed food, cotton waste, PVC and plastic finished goods (except approved industrial inputs), and wooden furniture has been restricted at Land Customs Stations (LCSs) and Integrated Check Posts (ICPs) in Assam, Meghalaya, Tripura, Mizoram, and West Bengal's Changrabandha and Fulbari. The directive also made clear that imports of essential items like fish, LPG, edible oil, and crushed stone remain unaffected. Goods transiting through India from Bangladesh to Nepal and Bhutan are also exempt. Indian authorities have expressed hope that the move will open new opportunities for local manufacturers, while also reinforcing the strategic importance of fair trade and regional economic stability. (ANI)
India.com
17-05-2025
- Business
- India.com
Bangladesh Trade Route Turbulence: India Tightens Gateways After Yunus' ‘Landlocked' Remark
New Delhi: In a decision that follows pointed remarks by Bangladesh's interim Chief Adviser Muhammad Yunus, India has tightened access for Bangladeshi goods through its northeastern land ports. Speaking during a visit to China, Yunus referred to India's northeast as a 'landlocked region with no access to the ocean' – a phrase that Indian officials did not take lightly. The fallout? Bangladesh's thriving ready-made garment (RMG) exports – along with plastics, furniture, melamine, juices, processed food and more – now face rerouted journeys via Kolkata or the Nhava Sheva port in Maharashtra. That shift means longer trips, higher costs and tighter margins for Bangladeshi exporters. BIG BREAKING: India limits Bangladesh garment imports to Kolkata, Mumbai seaports; Land ports closed in a reciprocal gesture to Bangladesh India's Northeastern land ports barred for select Bangladeshi goods. — Sidhant Sibal (@sidhant) May 17, 2025 Until now, 93% of Bangladeshi exports to India flowed through northeastern gateways in Assam, Meghalaya, Tripura, Mizoram and through Fulbari and Changrabandha in West Bengal. The re-routing is poised to hit Bangladesh's RMG sector the hardest, which annually exports over USD 740 million worth of garments to India. India has framed the move as one of trade fairness, citing long-standing asymmetries. 'Bangladesh cannot assume market access without reciprocity. For years, India extended concessions without equal returns. This decision restores balance,' an official told ANI. There is more to it than political optics. Indian exporters have repeatedly flagged Bangladesh's restrictions on Indian goods, particularly through the Integrated Check Posts (ICPs) bordering the northeastern states. In addition, Bangladesh's transit charges – 1.8 taka per tonne per kilometre for Indian goods compared to 0.8 taka domestically – have been viewed in New Delhi as discriminatory. Officials argue that these charges have stifled industrial growth in the northeast, effectively blocking economic integration with the Indian heartland. 'Industrial growth in the Northeastern states suffers a triple jeopardy,' a source noted, pointing to both logistical and policy hurdles imposed by Dhaka. For Bangladesh, the immediate impact is economic. Rising transport costs and limited access to key Indian markets threaten to disrupt its export-led growth model. But for Indian manufacturers, the trade pivot may offer fresh opportunities to fill the supply vacuum. A diplomatic standoff, a redirected truck route and a reminder – in geopolitics, words carry weight, especially when they redraw trade maps. (With ANI inputs)
Economic Times
17-05-2025
- Business
- Economic Times
India restricts port imports of garments, processed food and other select items from Bangladesh
The Directorate General of Foreign Trade has imposed immediate port restrictions on specific imports from Bangladesh. Ready-made garments can now only enter through Nhava Sheva and Kolkata seaports, excluding land ports. Furthermore, various goods like processed foods, plastics, and wooden furniture face restrictions, barring entry through Land Customs Stations and Integrated Check Posts in several states. Tired of too many ads? Remove Ads Tired of too many ads? Remove Ads The Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT), under the Ministry of Commerce and Industry on Saturday announced new port restrictions on the import of select goods from Bangladesh, effective to the notification, the import of ready-made garments from Bangladesh will now be allowed only through Nhava Sheva and Kolkata seaports, and not via any land other categories of goods including processed food items, fruit and fruit-flavoured or carbonated drinks, cotton and cotton yarn waste, plastic and PVC finished goods (excluding raw inputs such as pigments, dyes, plasticisers, and granules), and wooden furniture have also been brought under specific port items cannot be imported through Land Customs Stations (LCSs) or Integrated Check Posts (ICPs) located in Assam, Meghalaya, Tripura, Mizoram, as well as through Changrabandha and Fulbari LCSs in West the DGFT clarified that these port restrictions will not apply to Bangladeshi goods transiting through India en route to Nepal and Bhutan. Furthermore, the import of fish, LPG, edible oil, and crushed stone from Bangladesh remains exempt from these development follows the government's earlier move last month to terminate the transshipment facility that allowed Bangladesh to export cargo to third countries using Indian land ports for access to seaports and Indian apparel sector had previously raised concerns and urged the government to roll back such transit privileges extended to Bangladesh, citing trade decision is said to be a fallout of the recent comments made by Bangladesh Chief Adviser Muhammad Yunus on India's northeastern while addressing a programme apparently in China, had purportedly stated that India has seven landlocked states in its eastern part known as seven sisters and "they have no way to reach the ocean. We are the guardian of the ocean (Bay of Bengal)". He also invited China to send goods through it across the world.
