New realities of Delhi-Dhaka ties

Recent trade restrictions suggest that the era of India's preferential treatment of Bangladesh is over, and the latter must take much of the blame

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Many of the physical, economic, and energy connectivity measures India initiated with Bangladesh over the past decade were aimed at boosting the development of India's landlocked northeastern states. In a way, this was an acknowledgment of the long-standing economic complementarities of a region that faced widespread disruptions in the wake of the Partition in 1947 and subsequent wars with Pakistan. Bangladesh too gained from its access to the markets in India's northeastern states and from the revenues generated by allowing its territory and rivers to be used for the trans-shipment of goods from the Indian hinterland to the northeast.