Agency. Following a directive issued by the Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT), India’s Ministry of Commerce and Industry on Saturday imposed an immediate ban on various categories of goods imported from Bangladesh.
According to a report by trade-focused research group Global Trade Research Initiative (GTRI), India’s ban on imports from Bangladesh through land ports will impact goods worth $770 million, which is about 42 per cent of total bilateral imports.
The Ministry of Commerce and Industry on Saturday announced a ban on the import of various categories of goods from Bangladesh with immediate effect. After this decision, major items such as garments, processed foods and plastic goods are now confined to seaports or completely banned by land routes.
According to the new policy, Bangladeshi textiles worth $618 million annually will now be allowed to enter India only through two designated ports. The decision will have a serious impact on Bangladesh’s most attractive export channel to India, gtri said.
Indian textile manufacturers say their Bangladeshi competitors take undue advantage from duty-free imports of Chinese textiles and substantial government export subsidies. These factors give Bangladeshi exporters a 10-15 per cent pricing advantage in the Indian market.
“These trade measures did not appear separately,” GTRI said in its report. “This appears to be India’s response to Dhaka’s ban on the import of large numbers of goods from India and building a diplomatic axis towards China,” the GTRI report said. ’
The move is also seen as a reaction to controversial remarks by Bangladesh’s interim chief adviser Mohammad Younis. Bangladesh’s chief adviser Yunus, in his address to China, had described India’s northeastern states as “landlocked areas and areas without access to the sea”. The remarks have led to diplomatic friction, with Indian officials seeing it as undermining connectivity and the situation in the region.
Highlighting Dhaka’s growing proximity to China, the report noted that the collapse of Sheikh Hasina’s pro-India government in mid-2024 and the rise of an interim administration led by Mohammad Yunus have aroused Bangladesh’s willingness to cooperate with Beijing. During Yunus’ visit to China in March 2025, 2. New investment and cooperation agreements worth US$ 1 billion were signed. All these developments, as well as infrastructure projects such as teesta river development, pose a significant threat to India’s position in the region.
Since the end of 2024, Bangladesh has imposed a series of restrictions on Indian exports. These restrictions include a ban on import of Indian yarn from five major ports in April 2025, a strict ban on rice shipments and a ban on the import of dozens of Indian goods from paper and tobacco to fish and powdered milk. 1 per tonne of Indian goods that Dhaka transports through its territory. A transit fee of Tk 8 per ton has been imposed.
“These cumulative actions, operational delays and stringent port inspections have hampered Indian exporters and called for a systematic response,” the report said. ‘
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