India Withdraws Transshipment Facility for Bangladesh Exports

The transshipment facility for export had been withdrawn from Bangladesh, which India had first extended and has since described as retaliatory against the comment of Bangladesh Chief Advisor Mohammad Yunus regarding the northeastern states. The facility has been pulled up beginning April 8.

The action came just a couple of days after Mr Yunus visited China, where he urged further economic plugs from Beijing to Bangladesh and said that "opportunities" could also be created from the northeastern states of India, which are landlocked. Signing nine agreements and getting a 2.1 billion economic package, he also called Bangladesh the "only guardian of the ocean" in the region.

Bangladesh could export goods by land through India because of the transshipment facility. Primarily, most exports went to the Middle East, Europe, and various other nations. Indian Ministry of External Affairs Spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said that the transshipment facilities extended to Bangladesh have "over a period of time and resulted in significant congestion at our airports and ports." He added, "Logistical delays and higher costs were hindering our own exports and creating backlogs."

Mr Yunus's remark had attracted much ire from India, which has had strained ties with the Dhaka regime on many counts, including the safety of minorities.

During his meeting with Mr Yunus on the sidelines of the BIMSTEC (Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation) summit earlier this month, Prime Minister Narendra Modi referred to this indirectly, advising Dhaka to refrain from any "rhetoric that vitiates the environment."

It signifies India's strong demand for a realistic approach towards its neighbour Bangladesh, which aims to maintain "positive and constructive relationship with Bangladesh, and PM Modi had urged that any rhetoric that vitiates the environment is best avoided," Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri had said.

Union External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar emphasized India's strategic involvement in BIMSTEC, given that India shares borders "not only with five BIMSTEC members, connects most of them, but also provides much of the interface between the Indian sub-continent and ASEAN".

Relations between India and Bangladesh have nosedived to a greater extent after the interim government took charge following the ouster of then-Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina. New Delhi does not respond to the extradition request for Sheikh Hasina made by Bangladesh's interim government, on whom Delhi has placed a tag of "living in Delhi since August". In Bangladesh, many such men close to the power have delivered speeches that have not been received favourably in New Delhi.

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