In what is being referred to as a dramatic strategic reorientation, India has formally shut down the transshipment terminal that enabled Bangladesh to ship cargo via Indian soil to countries such as Bhutan, Nepal, and Myanmar. The move, implemented with scant diplomatic cushioning, follows in the wake of inflammatory comments by Bangladeshi Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus during his trip to China.
Yunus, ever the provider of headline-making quotes, termed Northeast India “landlocked,” arguing that “Dhaka is the only guardian of the ocean for all this region.” A beautiful verse, maybe—but one not to India’s geopolitical taste.
Enter the Modi government. Never slow to send a clear message when national interest is at stake, New Delhi has cut Dhaka’s cargo privileges. This is not just a bump in the road—it’s a deliberate interference with Bangladesh’s lifeline trade with landlocked countries such as Bhutan and Nepal and access routes to Myanmar. Diplomatically, it’s equivalent to banging the port gate shut—solidly.
Strategic watchers believe this move is not merely a reaction to Yunus’s comments, but a clear signal that India is reasserting control over its northeastern trade corridors. With China’s growing footprint in South Asia and Bangladesh flirting with Beijing’s economic overtures, Delhi’s patience may have finally snapped.
The Centre’s move is being welcomed by some as another Modi masterstroke—a measured pushback aimed at reminding neighbors that regional cooperation is not without responsibilities, but with benefits. If Dhaka believed it could eat its cake and have it too—with Chinese investments on one hand and Indian trade routes on the other—it might now have to rethink that strategy.