Bangladesh-India trade faces restrictions from both sides: Commerce minister
Bilateral trade stands at $12.75 billion, with Bangladesh exporting goods worth $1.89 billion to India, Khandakar Abdul Muktadir tells parliament
3 September 2026
UPDATED 3 September 2026
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Bilateral trade between Bangladesh and India continues to face restrictions from both sides, Commerce Minister Khandakar Abdul Muktadir told parliament today.
Replying to a supplementary question from Abdul Baten MP, the minister said Bangladesh’s trade deficit with India increased further in the 2025-26 fiscal year compared with the previous year.
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The volume of bilateral trade currently stands at nearly $12.75 billion, of which Bangladesh exports goods worth $1.89 billion to India. The remainder comes in as imports from India, he said.
However, the government does not view the trade deficit with any single country in isolation, but considers the overall trade situation, Muktadir said. Bangladesh also has a large trade deficit with China, he added.
“There were some restrictions from India, and during the last two years some restrictions have also been created from Bangladesh,” he said.
The minister said there are opportunities to increase Bangladesh’s exports to the Indian market.
“Although the gap with one country is so wide, importers make their decisions based on convenience and cost,” he said.
Referring to the recent visit of an Indian business delegation to Bangladesh, Muktadir said the delegation had proposed forming a joint task force with Bangladeshi businesses to improve infrastructure.
The government is considering the proposal and has shown interest in it as part of a coordinated effort to expand exports, he said.
Emphasising the need to strengthen the country’s export capacity, Muktadir said the government has identified several sectors, including leather, jute, shipbuilding, light engineering and semiconductors, as priority areas.
Explaining why imports from India are significantly higher, he said the government itself does not conduct imports, which are primarily carried out by private businesses. Traders source goods from wherever they find competitive prices, making India a major supplier under such conditions.
Policy support is being provided to these sectors, alongside efforts to attract new investment, he said. Plans are also underway to bring other potential sectors up to export-ready levels.
In response to a question from Lutfur Rahman MP, the minister presented data on Bangladesh’s trade deficit with India from FY2020-21 to FY2024-25.
The trade deficit stood at $7.31 billion in FY2020-21, $11.70 billion in FY2021-22, $7.72 billion in FY2022-23, $7.43 billion in FY2023-24 and $7.86 billion in FY2024-25.
Emphasising the need to strengthen the country’s export capacity, Muktadir said the government has identified several sectors, including leather, jute, shipbuilding, light engineering and semiconductors, as priority areas.
Explaining why imports from India are significantly higher, he said the government itself does not conduct imports, which are primarily carried out by private businesses. Traders source goods from wherever they find competitive prices, making India a major supplier under such conditions.
Bilateral trade stands at $12.75 billion, with Bangladesh exporting goods worth $1.89 billion to India, Khandakar Abdul Muktadir tells parliament
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1. The people who are ensuring a net Indian trade surplus with Bangladesh are individual citizens and businesses who voluntarily opt for India for economic reasons. This is of course totally legitimate and is their democratic right, but it also shows the importance of India economically for Bangladesh.
Khandaker Abdul Muktardir.
This is clear from Muktadir's statement when he said:
'“Although the gap with one country is so wide, importers make their decisions based on convenience and cost,” he said.'
In other words it is just simply market economics dictating outcomes in the same way China also has a net surplus with Bangladesh.
2. The good news is Indian businessman seem to be trying hard to help Bangladesh.
So hopefully Bangladeshi infrastructure can improve with Indian help and we can also diversify our exports and accelerate our path to a $1 trillion economy. That too benefits India as we then have the cash to purchase even more Indian products.
