India's Border Trade Curb Impacts Lives, Livelihoods In Bangladesh, Northeast India
India has also imposed export bans on certain goods from the Northeast to Bangladesh, including fruits, processed foods, and plastic goods, which are major export items from these states.
Guwahati: The trade restriction of India with Bangladesh has not only adversely impacted the livelihoods in Bangladesh alone but also disrupted established trade routes besides the livelihood of local communities who rely on cross-border trade for their income and sustenance in border towns of the northeast.
Pointing out that India's decision to restrict imports of goods like readymade garments from Bangladesh through land ports, while allowing them through seaports, is directly impacting the trade in Assam and the Northeast, security sources said that India has 13 land ports and four water ports with Bangladesh across northeastern states among which, Meghalaya’s Dawki, Tripura’s Akhaura, Assam’s Sutarkandi were one of the most busiest trade centres between the two counties.
Informing that more than 10,000 businessmen were directly or indirectly dependent on India-Bangladesh trade, security sources said that this could be estimated by the facts that nearly 3,500 traders in Northeastern states have Importer-Exporter Code (IEC) issued by Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT).
The restrictions impact specific goods, including fruits, processed foods, plastic products, and wooden furniture, which are commonly traded across the border, sources engaged in trade said.
India has also imposed export bans on certain goods from the Northeast to Bangladesh, including fruits, processed foods, and plastic goods, which are major export items from these states.
New regulations restricting certain chemical compounds in tea production are raising concerns about potential export disruptions, especially for Assam, a major tea-producing state, sources in the trade informed.
Meanwhile, sources across the border in Bangladesh have also expressed concern over the trade restrictions. Informing that restriction has started impacting the ruling establishment in Dhaka, security sources said that they are worried as the policy appears to be a direct response to repeated provocations and anti-India rhetoric emanating from Bangladesh’s interim administration.
Arguing that voices of fringe elements in the ruling establishment of Bangladesh was prominently highlighted in the media, sources close to the ruling establishment in Dhaka said that the present regime may soon respond to the situation to counter anti-India rhetoric in Bangladesh.