India has imposed new restrictions on imports from Bangladesh through land ports, affecting goods worth around USD 770 million.
This amounts to nearly 42 per cent of total bilateral imports, according to the Global Trade Research Initiative (GTRI), a trade research group.
The Union Ministry of Commerce and Industry issued the restrictions on Saturday following directions from the Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT).
The move limits several key Bangladeshi products, including readymade garments, processed foods, and plastic items, to specific sea ports or bans them entirely from entering India via land routes.
For example, Bangladeshi garments, valued at USD 618 million annually, can now only be imported through the Kolkata and Nhava Sheva seaports.
This cuts off access through previously vital land routes and is expected to hit Bangladesh’s garment exports to India hard.
Trade retaliation amid diplomatic friction
The GTRI report says India’s restrictions are not isolated measures. They appear to be a direct response to Bangladesh’s increasing trade barriers against Indian exports and a shift in Dhaka’s diplomatic focus towards China.
“The restrictions look like India’s response to Dhaka restricting imports from India on a large number of items and diplomatic pivot towards China,” the report states.
The friction intensified after Bangladesh’s interim chief adviser, Muhammad Yunus, made controversial remarks during a visit to China.
Yunus described India’s northeastern states as a “landlocked region with no access to the ocean,” a comment viewed by Indian officials as undermining the region’s connectivity, according to ANI reports.
Yunus’s visit to China in March 2025 resulted in USD 2.1 billion in investments and cooperation agreements, signalling Dhaka’s closer ties with Beijing.
The fall of Sheikh Hasina’s pro-India government in mid-2024 and the rise of Yunus’s interim administration have altered Bangladesh’s regional stance, which India perceives as a growing challenge.