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Bangladesh and India have discussed removing restrictions on land-based trade and easing other barriers to bilateral commerce at the 16th meeting of the Joint Working Group on Trade (JWGT) in New Delhi.
The two-day meeting, which began on Thursday, focused on ways to facilitate imports and exports and strengthen trade ties between the two neighbours.
Bangladesh placed particular emphasis on withdrawing port-related restrictions, while also raising issues including harmonisation of HS codes, trade facilitation through land ports, restrictions on foreign direct investment and rules of origin under the South Asian Free Trade Area (SAFTA).
India also called for the removal of port restrictions on yarn and other products from Bangladesh.
It raised issues related to product standards and sought greater use of rail and inland waterways for transporting goods, according to officials familiar with the discussions.
Bangladesh also sought continued duty-free access to the Indian market after its graduation from the Least Developed Country (LDC) category, removal of non-tariff barriers and permission to use Indian territory to export goods to Nepal and Bhutan.
India, meanwhile, raised the reopening of border haats, expansion of rail connectivity and removal of high duties on Indian imports into Bangladesh.
The meeting comes after bilateral trade ties weakened following the political change in Bangladesh in August 2024. Regular JWGT meetings were also suspended during the period.
In April 2025, Bangladesh stopped importing Indian yarn through several land ports, while India subsequently restricted land-route imports of Bangladeshi garments, processed food, plastics and PVC products.
Restrictions on jute and some textile products followed in June.
The Bangladeshi delegation is led by Commerce Ministry Additional Secretary Ayesha Akter. The 15th JWGT meeting was held in Dhaka in September 2023.
