The termination by India of transshipment facilities for Bangladesh marks more than a policy decision ~ it signals a recalibration of regional diplomacy, trade priorities, and strategic red lines in South Asia. By pulling the plug on a trade mechanism that had enabled Bangladesh to route its export cargo through India, New Delhi is not only responding to a diplomatic slight but also reasserting its agency in a region of increasing geo – political complexity.

Bangladesh’s interim Chief Adviser Muhammad Yunus’s recent comments in China, describing his country as the “only guardian of the ocean” for the landlocked North-eastern states of India, have been widely viewed as provocative. The timing and venue of the remarks ~ during a four-day visit to Beijing ~ underscore a growing shift in Dhaka’s foreign policy posture, one that appears increasingly comfortable in the Chinese orbit. India’s move to suspend the 2020 circular allowing transshipment,........

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