Why Did India Stop Trans-Shipment Facility For Bangladesh? What Sources Say

India has withdrawn the transshipment facility for export it extended to Bangladesh - a measure sources described as retaliatory for Bangladesh Chief Advisor Mohammad Yunus's comment on the northeast. The facility has been withdrawn starting April 8.

The measure came days after Mr Yunus, during a visit to China, urged Beijing to extend its economic influence to Bangladesh and mentioned that India's northeastern states, being landlocked, could prove an "opportunity". Signing nine agreements with and securing a 2.1 billion financial package, he had also described Bangladesh the "only guardian of the ocean" in the region.

The transshipment facility meant that Bangladesh could export items by land route via India. Most of the exports went to the Middle East, Europe and various other countries.

Today, External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said the transshipment facility was extended to Bangladesh had "over a period of time and resulted in significant congestion at our airports and ports". 

"Logistical delays and higher costs were hindering our own exports and creating backlogs," he said.

Mr Yunus's statement had drawn strong criticism from India which had shared a strained relationship with Dhaka over multiple issues including the safety of minorities. 

During his meeting with Mr Yunus on the sidelines of the BIMSTEC (Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation) summit earlier this month, Prime Minister Narendra Modi referred to it indirectly, suggesting that Dhaka avoid "rhetoric that vitiates the environment".

Underscoring India's desire for a "positive and constructive relationship with Bangladesh' PM Modi had "urged that any rhetoric that vitiates the environment is best avoided," Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri had said. 

Foreign minister S Jaishankar had highlighted India's strategic role in BIMSTEC, pointing out that it shares borders "not only with five BIMSTEC members, connects most of them, but also provides much of the interface between the Indian sub-continent and ASEAN".

"We are conscious that our cooperation and facilitation are an essential prerequisite for the smooth flow of goods, services and people in this larger geography... We also believe that cooperation is an integrated outlook, not one subject to cherry-picking," Mr Jaishankar added. 

India-Bangladesh relations had nosedived dramatically after the interim government took charge after then Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina was deposed. 

New Delhi has not responded to the request made by Bangladesh's interim government for the extradition of Sheikh Hasina, who has been living in Delhi since last August. 

In Bangladesh, many close to the interim government have made comments that have not gone down well in New Delhi.