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Bangladesh has no plans to take any counter-step against India's recent restriction on the entry of some items from the former through land ports, Commerce Secretary Mahbubur Rahman has said.
"No, we will not go for any retaliatory steps against India in response to its recent restriction. The neighbouring nation has taken this step, and we want to engage with them through discussions in this connection," he said after a meeting at the commerce ministry on Tuesday.
Rather, Dhaka would raise the issue at the upcoming secretary-level meeting, he said.
Rahman further said, "We will engage with India. It is not like only Bangladesh's trade has been affected due to the restriction. India's trade will also be affected. For this, we both are trying to resolve the issue through high-level meetings."
"We have an established forum, a secretary-level meeting between the two nations. We recently wrote to India through the home affairs ministry. We will understand the matter when India replies," the secretary added.
The Indian government has imposed an embargo on the import of some goods, including readymade garments, from Bangladesh through land ports, Rahman said.
"We have thought about what steps the Bangladesh government will take in this regard. We also heard what the local traders think, and we will discuss it with the government's policy-level officials, including the commerce adviser," he added.
Representatives from shipping and foreign ministries, defunct National Board of Revenue, Bangladesh Trade and Tariff Commission, Bangladesh Land Port Authority, EPB, FBCCI, BGMEA, and India-Bangladesh Chamber of Commerce and Industry, among others, were present at the meeting chaired by the commerce secretary.
India on Saturday imposed restrictions on the import of certain goods, including readymade garment (RMG) and processed food, from Bangladesh via different land ports.
The Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) under the Ministry of Commerce and Industry in India issued a notification in this regard.
The restrictions came after Bangladesh restricted Indian cotton imports via seaports and closed land ports.
India said the import restrictions via different land ports would not apply to Bangladeshi goods transiting through India and destined for Nepal and Bhutan.
The notification said the import of all kinds of RMG products from Bangladesh would be allowed only through the Nhava Sheva and Kolkata seaports.
Bilateral trade between Bangladesh and India was more than $10.5 billion in the fiscal year 2023-24. In this area, India is in a much better position, with an annual trade surplus of $7.43 billion.
Bangladesh imported around $1.6 billion worth of cotton yarn from India in 2024. It exported apparel items of over $38 billion that year, and more than $1.0 billion worth of goods were sent via Indian land ports.
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