"Response to deliberate trade disruptions": Ex-High Commissioner Sikri on India's trade restrictions with Bangladesh

"Under Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, for the last 15 years, India has granted full access to Bangladesh's commodities in India. Completely free market access except for items like tobacco and alcohol, despite the fact that we don't have a bilateral FTA or anything. But we have seen that in the last eight months, since Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina was forced to leave Dhaka and the regime, which is not even a legitimate regime, it's just an interim regime led by Chief Adviser Muhammad Yunus, they have arbitrarily been restricting the movement of goods between India and Bangladesh," Sikri told ANI on Sunday.

She noted that Bangladesh's attempts to source imports from countries like Pakistan, Turkey, the USA, and China were aimed at demonstrating reduced dependence on India.

"They wanted to show that they're not dependent on India... They were trying to get imports of these goods from other countries like Pakistan. Turkey, even the USA, even China... India was patient for a little while, but when we saw that Bangladesh was doing this deliberately. In a move aimed at harming the bilateral trade between India and Bangladesh, India has now taken reciprocal measures," Sikri added.

She highlighted that global market conditions, with low demand, make it challenging for Bangladesh to find alternative markets, exacerbating the impact of India's restrictions.

"I think it's difficult at this time for Bangladesh to find other markets because of the world situation; the market demand is fairly low at this time," says former High Commissioner of India to Bangladesh Veena Sikri.

Sikri also raised concerns about emerging narratives in Bangladesh, stating, "Here are many maps floating around in Bangladesh by all the Islamist parties, the Jihadis - they're talking about the greater Bangla and they're talking about including (Indian) North East... In that sense, he (Chief Adviser of Bangladesh, Muhammad Yunus) is trying to say that I want to promote relations with Northeast India. This is the old BBIN (Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, and Nepal) that he's trying to promote, but at the same time, he's harming the exports and imports from Northeast India."

She expressed optimism that India's Northeastern states would leverage this situation to become more self-reliant and boost local manufacturing.

"I think our northeastern states will now become more Atmanirbhar and develop their manufacturing," said the former High Commissioner.

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 (DGFT).

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 curbs 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)