As Yunus Leans To China, India Ends Transshipment Facility For Bangladesh

India-West News Desk

NEW DELHI – India has withdrawn a transshipment facility for Bangladesh’s export cargoes, a move that comes amid strained trade relations and in response to recent comments by Bangladesh’s interim government head, Muhammad Yunus.

Yunus controversially described India’s Northeast as “landlocked” and called for Chinese autonomy over the region.

“Seven states of India, the eastern part of India, called seven sisters… they are a landlocked country, a landlocked region of India. They have no way to reach out to the ocean,” he said.

He added, “We are the only guardians of the ocean for all this region. So this opens up a huge possibility. So this could be an extension of the Chinese economy. Build things, produce things, market things, bring things to China, bring it out to the whole rest of the world.”

India’s customs department announced on April 8 that it had decided to rescind a 2020 order that permitted the transshipment of Bangladeshi exports to third countries through Indian land customs stations. The cargo was transported in containers or closed-body trucks to ports and airports.

The move was explained as necessary to address “delays and higher costs” that were affecting India’s own exports and causing backlogs, according to a spokesperson for India’s external affairs ministry.

The decision to cancel the transshipment facility, which allowed Bangladesh to export goods to other countries via India’s land borders, is expected to disrupt Bangladesh’s ready-made garment exports and increase costs for trade with neighboring countries like Nepal, Bhutan, and Myanmar, according to exporters.

There has been a cooling of ties between the two nations since Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina sought refuge in India amid mass protests last August and Yunus has shown his desire to work with China and Pakistan.