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India Today
20-05-2025
- Business
- India Today
How India will bypass Bangladesh roads and roadblocks
New Delhi seems to be hitting back at Dhaka, after Bangladesh's interim government chief, Muhammad Yunus, brought up India's "landlocked" north-east during his visit to China. While India has restricted some Bangladeshi exports into India through land routes, it is also working to revive an alternative multi-modal corridor to connect the Seven Sisters, bypassing the fall of the Sheikh Hasina regime in August 2024, India has faced a not-so-friendly Bangladesh. That's because forces that thought India helped the Hasina regime filled the power including Muhammad Yunus, have made remarks inimical to the long-standing ties between the two countries, and the remarks on the northeast states were the latest in that series. The interim government hasn't acted against the extremist anti-India voices that have gained mainstream space since Hasina's departure. India's move to restrict the import of Bangladeshi goods, including its prized garments, comes after New Delhi in April scrapped a transshipment agreement that had allowed Bangladeshi goods to pass through India for export to third a result, as many as 36 trucks loaded with garments worth Rs 5.5 crore have been left stranded at the Benapole border, reported the Dhaka India has accelerated work on the Kaladan Multi-Modal Transit Transport Project (KMMTTP), aimed at connecting Kolkata to Mizoram via Myanmar's Sittwe Port. The project, which significantly shortens the distance between Kolkata and the Northeast states, is partially complete, with the Indian government now stepping up efforts to finish the remaining segments. advertisementINDIA RESTRICTS TRADE WITH BANGLADESHIn April, India terminated a 2020 transshipment agreement that allowed Bangladeshi exports, particularly garments, to be routed through Indian territory to third last week, also imposed restrictions on Bangladeshi goods via land ports. This is likely to impact goods worth $770 million, about 42% of total bilateral imports, according to a Global Trade Research Initiative (GTRI), reported news agency these measures are yielding results, India is also focusing on long-term strategies to bypass Bangladesh and directly connecting its northeastern states with the rest of the country, as Dhaka appears to be visibly tilting towards an expansionist now, the narrow Siliguri Corridor, referred to as the Chicken's Neck, is the only land route connecting the Northeast of India to the rest of the country. All other land routes pass via has long been wary of China's growing influence in South Asia, including in Bangladesh, where Beijing is expanding its footprint through infrastructure projects under the "debt-trapping" Belt and Road SIDE OF KALADAN PROJECT COMPLETE: MIZORAM GUV VK SINGHAt the heart of India's strategy to bypass Bangladesh is the Kaladan Multi-Modal Transit Transport Project (KMMTTP), a $500-million initiative to connect Kolkata to Mizoram via April 25, Mizoram Governor General VK Singh announced that construction of the Kaladan Multi-Modal Transit Transport Project had been completed on the Indian side, reported The Times of greenfield Shillong–Silchar high-speed corridor, approved by the Union Cabinet last week, is poised to enhance the KMMTTP by extending the route from Mizoram's Aizawl into other parts of the Northeast, including central Assam and Shillong in Meghalya."It [Shillong–Silchar high-speed corridor] will become a major connectivity link for the entire Northeast and an important milestone for developing the region as a gateway for India's Act East Policy," an official of the National Highways and Infrastructure Development Corporation Limited (NHIDCL), told The Indian Express NHIDCL is the implementing body of the Kaladan project. The current road route between Silchar and Shillong is 210 km and takes over 8 hours; the new high-speed highway will reduce the distance by 31 km and cut travel time by over 3 hours. (Image: Google Maps) "With the help of the Kaladan project, cargo will reach from Vizag and Kolkata to the Northeast, without being dependent on Bangladesh. The high-speed corridor will ensure transportation of goods via road after that, which will spur economic activity in the region," the NHIDCL official Shillong-Silchar high-speed corridor will be extended to Mizoram's Zorinpuri, where the KMMTTP project route enters India, before terminating in the capital city of Aizawl, said the Indian Express December 2024, Union Minister of State for External Affairs Kirti Vardhan Singh said that the KMMTTP was expected to be completed by July 2025, reported The Assam route would not only bypass the rail and road routes from Kolkata to Northeast India through Bangladesh, but would also help in eliminating the need to move goods through the narrow Siliguri Corridor. The Chicken's Neck is a narrow 22-km-wide strategic corridor in West Bengal that connects the northeastern states to the rest of India. (File Image) WHAT'S KALADAN PROJECT AND HOW IT WILL BYPASS BANGLADESHThe KMMTTP, a multimodal project jointly conceived by India and Myanmar in 2008, combines maritime, riverine, and road goods and people travel between Kolkata and the northeastern states either through the longer Siliguri Corridor or via Bangladesh. The Bangladesh route includes road and rail links from Kolkata to Dhaka, as well as the Akhaura-Agartala connectivity by both road and the KMMTTP, in present circumstances, could offer a much shorter route than the one via the Siliguri KMMTTP, once complete, would first enable ships to travel from Kolkata to Sittwe Port in Myanmar's Rakhine State, initially on the Hooghly River and then through the Bay of Bengal. From Sittwe, goods would be transported via the Kaladan River to Paletwa town in Chin Paletwa, a 109-km road would lead to the town of Zorinpui on the India-Myanmar border in Mizoram. Once completed, the KMMTTP will reduce travel time and distance between Kolkata and the Northeast considerably, compared to the current route through works on the Indian stretch and the construction of Sittwe Port, the river terminal at Paletwa, and dredging of the Kaladan River, have been completed, according to a December 2024 piece in The Week magazine. The completion on the Indian side has also been confirmed by Mizoram Governor General VK Singh. A map showing the Kaladan Multi-Modal Transit Transport Project, connecting Kolkata to Mizoram via Myanmar through sea, river, and road routes. (Image: India Today/ Vipul Kumar) advertisementIn February 2022, IRCON, a PSU under the Ministry of Railways, was appointed as the implementing agency for the construction of the 109-km road from Paletwa to Zorinpui, reported the PSU Watch news due to political instability, logistical challenges, and security concerns in Myanmar's Rakhine State, the road between Myanmar's Paletwa and Mizoram's Zorinpui remains was in fact the town of Paletwa that has witnessed intense fighting amid Myanmar's civil war, with the military junta locked in a violent armed conflict against the Arakan these roadblocks, a recent statement made by Abhay Thakur, India's Ambassador to Myanmar, in April 2025 suggests that work is underway on the incomplete Myanmar section of the Kaladan project, and there is hope that it is moving towards completion."Myanmar, under the framework of both the 'Neighbourhood First' and 'Act East' policies, is an important developmental partner of India. To begin with, we are engaged in several strategically significant projects, including the Kaladan Multi-Modal Transit Transport Project and the India-Thailand Trilateral Highway Project," Thakur told news agency Bangladesh courting China and India tightening the trade screws, the Kaladan Project is not a detour, but a major diplomatic flex of New Delhi. With the completion of the Kaladan project, India would not just create a new route to the northeast but also open a road to development in the region, despite all the Watch
India Gazette
19-05-2025
- Business
- India Gazette
India's trade restrictions to have long-term impact on employment in Bangladesh, says ILO
Dhaka [Bangladesh], May 19 (ANI): India's trade restrictions is likely to have long-term impact on employment landscape in Bangladesh, a senior official of the International Labour Organization (ILO) in Dhaka, said on Monday. ILO Country Director Tuomo Poutianinen was speaking to the reporters on the occasion of the end of his tenure in Bangladesh. 'Generally, I don't think there will be imminent impact on employment landscape in Bangladesh, because the fact is that much of the employment is in the informal economy, is in the agriculture, is in the various sectors that can on their own right continue to ... employment ambitious. Longer term formal business may be affected not by only that but generally global circumstances in the trade', Poutiainen said, when asked about the impact of the trade restriction imposed by India on Bangladesh. 'Bangladesh as a country needs to continuously calibrate. Employment skills and export diversification and looking at the issues. The factor is the quality of labour, the requirements that are exercised by its trading partner. I think it's very important for Bangladesh to continuously the understanding and studying in terms of trade relations and its negotiations with the trading partners,' he said. Earlier on Saturday, the Ministry of Commerce and Industry, imposed immediate land port restrictions on the import of several categories of goods from Bangladesh, following a directive issued by the Directorate General of Foreign Trade. According to the global Trade Research Initiative (GTRI), India's restrictions on imports from Bangladesh via land ports will impact goods worth USD 770 million, accounting for nearly 42 per cent of total bilateral imports. The move limits the entry of products such as ready-made garments and processed foods to specific seaports, an official press release by the Ministry stated and is widely viewed as a response to Bangladesh's recent curb on Indian yarn, rice, and other goods, along with its decision to impose a transit fee on Indian cargo, marking a shift from previously cooperative trade relations. Under the new directive, all kinds of ready-made garments from Bangladesh can now only be imported through Nhava Sheva and Kolkata seaports, with entry through land ports no longer permitted. (ANI)
Time of India
21-04-2025
- Business
- Time of India
India must engage with China, US on equal terms: GTRI
Live Events (You can now subscribe to our (You can now subscribe to our Economic Times WhatsApp channel New Delhi, India should engage with China and the US on equal terms and the engagement should be guided by its strategic autonomy, economic interest and global trade principles, not by external pressure, think tank GTRI said on Monday. These remarks came in the backdrop of China's warning that it would take countermeasures in a "resolute and reciprocal" manner against nations that strike trade deals with America at the expense of Chinese Trade Research Initiative (GTRI) said that China's warning of retaliation against countries aligning with the US efforts to isolate Beijing must be viewed through the lens of global supply chain economies, including the US, EU, Japan, South Korea, and India, are deeply dependent on China for the supply of industrial and consumer goods, it said, adding that China is embedded at every level of the global production hierarchy - finished goods, intermediate products and parts and China entirely requires building manufacturing capabilities from the raw material stage upward an effort that no country has yet achieved at think tank said that India must chart an independent course, strengthening its domestic manufacturing base and reducing critical import dependencies through targeted investment in deep the same time, it said, India should remain firmly committed to WTO-led multilateral trade norms and avoid actions that risk violating global rules."India should not be drawn into binary geopolitical rivalries. Instead, it must engage with both China and the US on equal terms, guided by strategic autonomy, economic interest, and global trade principles not by external pressure," GTRI founder Ajay Srivastava US remained India's largest trading partner for the fourth consecutive year in 2024-25 with bilateral trade valued at USD 131.84 billion, while the country's trade deficit with China widened to USD 99.2 billion during the same period, government data the last fiscal, India's exports to China contracted 14.5 per cent to USD 14.25 billion against USD 16.66 billion in 2023-24. The imports, however, rose by 11.52 per cent in 2024-25 to USD 113.45 billion against USD 101.73 billion in continues to be the second largest trading partner of India with USD 127.7 billion two-way commerce in 2024-25 compared to USD 118.4 billion in is negotiating a bilateral trade agreement with the US with a view to boosting bilateral trade to USD 500 billion by 2030.
