The bilateral relations between India and Bangladesh may be at their worst, but trade between the countries seems to be thriving. The new interim government’s plan to decrease dependency on India does not seem to have had the desired effect, as Dhaka is still relying on India for onions and rice.
India had a monopoly on onion exports to Bangladesh till 2024. Though the new interim government attempted to diversify its options, it is back to India. This was stated by Salehuddin Ahmed, the financial advisor to the interim government of Bangladesh, after a meeting on December 23. As per reports, Bangladesh will import a total of 1,500 tonnes of onions from India by March 31, 2026. The Yunus government has allowed 50 importers of Bangladesh to import onions from India.
"Roughly 200 trucks carrying over 6,000 tonnes of red and white onions are crossing the border each day."
— Frontalforce 🇮🇳 (@FrontalForce) December 23, 2025
Indian trucks loaded with Onion reached Bangladesh amidst shortage & price rise.
Shud India still help Bangladesh ?pic.twitter.com/i3jvcajI7L
The government did not hide its dissapointment at depending on India after its effort to wean itself off from New Delhi backfired. Though Dhaka opted to import onions from Pakistan, China, Egypt, and Turkey, the price of onions in the country had reached 150 taka per kg. In this situation, the Yunus government was forced to import onions from India to control the price of onions in its market. “A few days ago, a decision was taken to import onions from India. It was a little too late to make the decision. If the decision had been made earlier, the price of onions in the country would have come down even more," Salehuddin Ahmed, the financial advisor to the interim government of Bangladesh.
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Not just onions, Dhaka is also importing rice from India, amounting to 50,000 metric tonnes. Though Bangladesh also buys rice from Pakistan, the price is much higher than that of India. While the price of rice purchased from India is 43 taka 51 paisa per kg, the same costs 48 taka 30 paisa per kg from Pakistan. Hence, the Yunus government had to give approval to buy rice at the meeting of the Advisory Council Committee. It is learned that Bangladesh will buy 50 tons of rice from Pattabhi Agro Foods Private Limited from India.
