India-Bangladesh Relations:

India was one of the first countries to recognize Bangladesh and establish diplomatic relations immediately after its independence in December 1971. India- Bangladesh relationship is anchored in history, culture, language and shared values of secularism, democracy, and countless other commonalities between the two countries. Both countries share an all-encompassing win-win partnership based on sovereignty, equality, trust and understanding that goes far beyond a strategic partnership.

Bilateral Trade and Investment between Bangladesh and India:

Bangladesh is India’s biggest trade partner in South Asia. Bilateral trade between India and Bangladesh has grown steadily over the last decade. India’s exports to Bangladesh for the (Indian) financial year 2018-19 (April-March) stood at US $ 9.21 bn and imports from Bangladesh for the same period stood at US $ 1.22 bn.

India and Bangladesh have trade agreement which is facilitative in nature. India and Bangladesh are members of various regional trade agreements including the Asia Pacific Trade Agreement (APTA), SAARC Preferential Trade Agreement (SAPTA) and the Agreement on South Asian Free Trade Area (SAFTA) which govern the tariff regimes for trade. Under SAFTA, India has granted duty free quota free access to Bangladesh on all items except alcohol and tobacco. Various bilateral institutional mechanisms including Commerce Secretary Level Meeting, Shipping Secretary Level Talks, Joint Working Groups on Trade, Customs and Fisheries and Sub-groups on Banking and LCS/ICP Infrastructure etc meet regularly.

Four Border Haats, two each in Tripura (Srinagar and Kamalasagar) and Meghalaya (Kalaichar and Balat), have been established for the benefit of bordering communities. Ten additional Border Haats on the India-Bangladesh border are under implementation/consideration.

Cumulative Foreign Direct Investment from India to Bangladesh has more than doubled from USD 243.91 mn in 2014 to USD 570.11 mn in December 2018. Indian companies have invested in various sectors including telecommunications (Airtel), pharmaceuticals (Sun Pharma), FMCG (Marico) and automobiles (Tata, Hero Motors) sectors in Bangladesh. During Hon'ble Prime Minister H.E. Sheikh Hasina’s visit in April 2017, 13 agreements worth around US$ 10 billion of Indian investment mainly in power and energy sectors in Bangladesh were signed.

ICC has also been regularly working on India & Bangladesh relations through various activities including exchange of high-level delegations. For improving bilateral trade & commerce between India and neighboring Bangladesh, ICC has organised high level Ministerial delegations to Dhaka to meet H.E. Sheikh Hasina, Hon'ble Prime Minister of Bangladesh, twice, and has been regularly updating Ministry of Commerce and PMO on the business issues, sentiments and sensitivities of Bangladesh Government and Industry.

Indo Bangla Trade Portal

This trade portal is a first of its kind to facilitate the business fraternity of India and Bangladesh. It’s a trade portal wherein Database of Exporters and Importers of both NE India and Bangladesh is uploaded, would enable B2B collaboration between Buyers and Sellers of both Counterparts and also allow business dealings and negotiations among the two sides. This is a step ahead activity between the two geographies in order to enable smooth conduct of business transactions between the two regions.