India ends transshipment facility for Bangladesh exports | India News

NEW DELHI: India has disallowed transshipment of cargo from Bangladesh to 3rd international locations, dealing a blow to Dhaka exporting attire via air freighters, largely from Delhi.
Global manufacturers comparable to Zara, which use the route to fulfill their worldwide want, should rework their sourcing technique. The customs round, issued Tuesday, mentioned cargo that had already entered India could be allowed to be shipped out. Confirming the event that comes amid the strife in India-Bangladesh ties, MEA mentioned the transshipment used to trigger congestion at Indian airports and ports, however added the order will not hit Dhaka’s exports to Nepal and Bhutan passing via India. tnn
The trans-shipment facility prolonged to Bangladesh had over a time frame resulted in important congestion at our airports and ports. Logistical delays and better prices have been hindering our personal exports and creating backlogs. The facility, due to this fact, has been withdrawn, w.e.f. April 8, 2025. To make clear, these measures don’t affect Bangladesh exports to Nepal or Bhutan transiting via Indian territory,” said MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal, adding India needs to create space for its own exports.

While exporters had petitioned govt final yr, the customs notification got here days after Muhammad Yunus made controversial remarks in China, saying India’s northeastern states, which share a nearly 1,600-km border with Bangladesh, were “landlocked”, prompting a powerful rebuttal from PM Modi.
“India has all the time supported the Bangladesh trigger. India permits one-way zero tariff entry to Bangladesh items (all besides alcohol and cigarettes) to the huge Indian market for the final 20 years. However, Bangladesh plans for making a strategic base close to Chicken’s Neck space with China’s assist could have prompted this motion. Bangladesh has invited Chinese funding to revitalise the air base at Lalmunirhat close to India’s Siliguri Corridor,” said trade research body GTRI.
Industry here said this will help Indian players. “It was the Apparel Export Promotion Council’s long-standing demand for stopping trans-shipment of Bangladeshi cargo, meant for shipments to 3rd international locations, via Indian ports, which has now been accepted. This will assist in rationalisation of freight charges leading to much less transportation price to the Indian exporters in addition to decongesting the airports resulting in the shorter transit time to ship the products,” said the industry body’s secretary general Mithileshwar Thakur.
The MEA spokesperson also reiterated India’s demand that Bangladesh probe cases of violence against minorities, saying this was an issue that PM Modi strongly raised with chief advisor Muhammad Yunus during their recent meeting in Bangkok. “This is just not a difficulty that Bangladesh can want away by calling it media exaggeration,” mentioned Jaiswal. Yunus had mentioned within the assembly that many of the instances of atrocities dedicated on minorities have been pretend information.