Bilateral trade between India and Bangladesh has seen a notable resurgence with the resumption of railway freight services although passenger trains between the two countries have remained suspended since mid-July because of political unrest in the neighbouring nation.

The freight services resumed on August 20, with the frequency of operations increasing in the following weeks. This has led to the export of approximately 40,000 tonnes of goods from India to Bangladesh.

According to traders, this marks a significant recovery after a 47-day trade suspension, which was resolved through high-level discussions between officials from both the countries.

“The intervention by both governments facilitated the resumption of services. Bangladesh’s interim government has been focused on fostering economic growth post-unrest, while India aimed to restore normalcy in trade relations,” said a bilateral trade analyst in Calcutta.

Trade across the India-Bangladesh border was initially halted and the border was sealed after the political unrest in Bangladesh intensified, leading to the collapse of Sheikh Hasina’s government in early August.

While the border trade via land ports resumed shortly afterwards because of pressure from traders, the railway passenger services remained suspended.

Despite the revival of the freight services, passenger train services between the two countries, which have been suspended since July 19, are unlikely to resume soon. Sources indicate that the Indian government has not yet decided on the resumption of the train services, despite repeated requests from Bangladesh.

“The issue is under discussion at the foreign ministry level. Passenger services will restart once an agreement is reached,” a railway official in Calcutta said.

Currently, services of three major passenger trains — Dhaka-Calcutta Maitree Express, Dhaka-New Jalpaiguri Maitree Express and Khulna-Kolkata Bandhan Express — remain suspended.

Freight shipments have included essential goods such as fly ash, dry oil cake, gypsum, stone, maize and natural gas.

Railway sources in Calcutta confirmed that at least 16 rakes had been dispatched from bordering Indian railway stations like Petrapole and Gede to Bangladesh in the past two weeks.

Of these, seven rakes were loaded with dry oil cake, a crucial commodity for Bangladesh’s agriculture sector, while four rakes carried fly ash, which is essential for Bangladesh’s cement industry. Three rakes transported natural gas, with the remaining rakes carrying gypsum and stone.

The breakthrough in resuming freight services
came on August 12, following a formal request from Bangladesh authorities and subsequent dialogues between
both nations.

“The robust trade relationship between India and Bangladesh made this possible. In 2021, bilateral trade reached a record $14 billion,” said a journalist in Dhaka.

Although trade volumes slightly declined to $13.8 billion in 2022 and further to $11.3 billion in 2023, Bangladesh remains one of India’s key trade partners in South Asia.

“Like the bilateral trade carried out in high volume through land ports, the frequency of freight trains to Bangladesh needed to increase considering the cumulative fall during the past few years”, said Kartick Chakraborty, a senior clearing agent in Petrapole.