Friday, 12 Sep, 2025
By: Yash Gupte
Bangladesh is India’s biggest trade partner in South Asia and India is the second biggest trade partner of Bangladesh. The bilateral trade between India and Bangladesh has witnessed an exponential rise in last five years.
Bangladesh PM Sheikh Hasina arrived in India on Monday to hold bilateral talks with her Indian counterpart PM Narendra Modi. Apart from having a conversation with Narendra Modi, she during her visit called on the President of India, Droupadi Murmu and the Vice President of India, Jagdeep Dhankhar. External Affairs Minister Dr. S. Jaishankar and Minister of Development of North Eastern Region G. Kishan Reddy called on her. Sheikh Hasina signed at least seven bilateral agreements in areas like science and technology, water management, border security, information & broadcasting and railways with her Indian counterpart Narendra Modi during her visit.
PM Sheikh Hasina's visit to India is her first since 2019. Her delegation includes Foreign Minister Dr. A. K. Abdul Momen, Commerce Minister Tipu Munshi, Railways Minister Md Nurul Islam Sujan, Liberation War Minister A. K. M. Mozammel Haq, and Prime Minister's Economic Affairs Advisor Mashiur A. K. M. Rahman.
Political and security cooperation, defense, border management, trade and connectivity, water resources, electricity and energy, development cooperation, cultural and people-to-people linkages were the major subjects of discussion between the two Prime Ministers. They also pledged to work together in new areas like environment, climate change, cyber security, ICT, space technology, green energy, and the blue economy. Both the leaders reaffirmed their strong commitment of eradicating terrorism in all of its forms and manifestations, and they also agreed to expand their collaboration to resist and prevent the spread of terrorism, violent extremism, and radicalization in the region and beyond. India and Bangladesh also signed an important agreement on water sharing of the Kushiyara River. This tends to benefit Southern Assam in India and Sylhet region in Bangladesh.
India announced about the offer of 20 broad gauge locomotives to Bangladesh Railway on grant basis and supply of road construction equipment and machinery to Road and Highways Department, Government of Bangladesh. The Indian side stated that it has granted free passage to Bangladesh for the shipment of its products to third countries via defined Land Customs Stations/Airports/Seaports. In this regard, the Indian government welcomed the Bangladesh business community to use its port facilities for transshipment to third-party countries. India has also provided free transit to Bangladesh for its exports to Nepal and Bhutan.
Minister of Development of North Eastern Region G. Kishan Reddy in the meeting with Bangladesh PM Sheikh Hasina, highlighted the need for enhancing border trade through various measures such as establishing and strengthening Border Haats, Integrated Check Points, and Land Customs Stations. Trade remains a major area of cooperation between the two South Asian countries.
Source: Ministry of Commerce and Industry
Bangladesh is India’s biggest trade partner in South Asia and India is the second biggest trade partner of Bangladesh. The bilateral trade between India and Bangladesh has witnessed an exponential rise in last five years. The trade between New Delhi and Dhaka was reported to be the lowest in 2017-18 at $9299.99 million. The second lowest trade was reported in the year 2019-20. This was largely due to the disruption in supply chains during the lockdowns imposed due to covid-19 pandemic. 2021-22 registered the highest ever bilateral trade between the two neighbors at $18134.30 million. India has a trade surplus with Bangladesh as India exports more and imports less from Bangladesh. But in spite of less imports, the value of imports from Bangladesh has been increasing over the years. In 2017-18, imports worth $685.65 million were registered which increased nearly three times to $1977.93 in 2021-22. The exports from India to Bangladesh rose two times from $8614.35 million in 2017-18 to $16156.37. Though there are some points of friction between New Delhi and Dhaka, scope for increase in bilateral trade remains high.
