Bangladesh protests: Unrest unlikely to impact India’s overall trade position, says S&P

India has emerged as a diversified exporter in global trade and the current situation caused by the anti-government protests in Bangladesh is unlikely to impact India's overall trade position for the year significantly, newswire PTI reported, quoting S&P Global Ratings on Tuesday, August 6.

“India is a well-diversified exporter to the entire world, and its trade profile is significantly larger than bilateral trade relationships with economies like Bangladesh,” said Andrew Wood, Director of Sovereign and International Public Finance Ratings (Asia-Pacific), S&P Global Ratings, according to the report.

Bangladesh has been facing its worst-ever political turmoil since its independence in 1971. Sheikh Hasina, the Prime Minister of Bangladesh, resigned in between the huge protests. The violence in the nation was fueled by the disagreement of the people with the government over the job quota bill, which took a violent turn, and the Prime Minister quit her position and fled the country.

General Waqar-uz-Zaman, Bangladesh's army chief, said an interim government will manage the country, according to the report.

S&P Ratings expects that the domestic demand conditions in Bangladesh are likely to be weak, and there is a probable chance that it will support fewer exports for other countries, which includes India exporting to Bangladesh, said the report quoting Wood.

“Whatever the impact is going to be on directly is really quite unlikely to have a meaningful impact on its overall trade position for the fiscal year... its external position is quite strong in the country and is a net creditor to the world by our calculation,” reported the news agency quoting Wood from a webinar.

India's biggest trade partner in South Asia is Bangladesh. At the same time, India is Bangladesh's second-biggest trade partner, according to the report.

India-Bangladesh Trade

According to the report, India's exports to Bangladesh fell nearly 10 per cent to $11 billion in the financial year 2023-24, compared to $12.21 billion in the year 2022-23. The country's imports also dropped 8 per cent to $1.84 billion at the end of the financial year 2023-24, compared to $2 billion in the previous year.

The nation exports vegetables, coffee, tea, spices, sugar, confectionery, refined petroleum oil, chemicals, cotton, iron, steel, and vehicles to Bangladesh. According to the report, India imports fish, plastic, leather, apparel, etc., from the country.