India Restricts Bangladeshi Goods Imports: Port Curbs on Garments, Food

New Delhi, May 17 (PTI) India on Saturday imposed port restrictions on the import of certain goods, such as readymade garments and processed food items, from Bangladesh.

The Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT), under the Commerce Ministry, has issued a notification in this regard.

The notification imposes "port restrictions on the import of certain goods such as readymade garments, processed food items etc., from Bangladesh to India," the ministry said.

However, such port restrictions will not apply to Bangladeshi goods transiting through India but destined for Nepal and Bhutan, it added.

The order said that readymade garments imports from Bangladesh will not be allowed from any land port. However, it is allowed only through Nhava Sheva and Kolkata seaports.

For fruits; fruit flavoured and carbonated drinks; processed food items (baked goods, snacks, chips and confectionary); cotton and cotton yarn waste; plastic and PVC finished goods, dyes, plasticisers and granules; and wooden furniture, the notification said the inbound shipments from the neighbouring country shall not be allowed through any LCSs (Land Customs Stations) and ICPs (Integrated Check Posts) in Assam, Meghalaya, Tripura and Mizoram; and LCS Changrabandha and Fulbari, in West Bengal.

It added that these port restrictions do not apply to the import of Fish, LPG, Edible Oil, and Crushed stone from Bangladesh.

To make these changes, a new paragraph is introduced in the country's import policy regulating the imports of these goods from Bangladesh to India, "with immediate effect," it said.

On April 9, India withdrew the transhipment facility it had granted to Bangladesh for exporting various items to the Middle East, Europe and various other countries except Nepal and Bhutan.

It was announced against the backdrop of the controversial statement made by the head of Bangladesh's interim government Muhammad Yunus in China recently that India's seven northeastern states, which share a nearly 1,600 km border with Bangladesh, are landlocked and have no way to reach the ocean except through his country.

In his address at a business event in which he had also said that Bangladesh was the "only guardian" of the Indian Ocean in the region, Yunus had also invited China to send goods through Bangladesh across the world.

The comments did not go down well in New Delhi. It also drew sharp reactions from political leaders in India across party lines.

The transshipment facility that allowed Bangladesh to use several Indian ports and airports including the Delhi airport for sending its exports to the Middle East, Europe and many other countries had enabled smooth trade flows for its exports. It was provided by India to Bangladesh in June 2020.

Indian exporters, mainly from the apparel sector, had also earlier urged the government to withdraw this facility to the neighbouring country.

India-Bangladesh relations have nosedived dramatically after Yunus failed to contain attacks on minorities, especially Hindus, in that country.

Bangladesh is a big competitor of India in the textile sector. The India-Bangladesh trade stood at USD 12.9 billion in 2023-24.