India Looking For Ways to Meet Bangladesh’s Onion Needs

Indian authorities are considering allowing the movement of supplies of onions already contracted by importers from Bangladesh after Dhaka has formally complained about the effect of New Delhi 's ban on commodity exports.

At the West Bengal border crossings, scores of trucks carrying onions on their way to Bangladesh were halted after the Directorate General of Foreign Trade banned all exports of the item on Monday following a shortage and a sudden rise in domestic market prices, reports the Hindustan Times.

As prices spike in Bangladesh following the ban, the Dhaka Foreign Ministry formally protested to the Indian High Commission on Tuesday, via a note of verbal or unsigned diplomatic correspondence, people familiar with developments said.

The Bangladeshi mission in New Delhi also raised the matter, the people said on condition of anonymity.

Foreign Secretary Harsh Shringla, who visited Bangladesh to bring bilateral relations back on track on August 18, has taken a personal interest in the matter and is trying to help find a solution, the people said.

One choice is to allow all onion supplies which were contracted by Bangladeshi importers before the ban came into effect to be shipped. We expect a solution soon, "one of the people quoted abo

This is the second time in less than a year that an Indian ban on exports of onions has had an impact on Bangladesh and a formal reaction from Dhaka has resulted.

During a visit to New Delhi last October, Bangladesh's Prime Minister Shiekh Hasina formally raised the earlier ban. She also said the Indian side should offer notice of such bans in advance.

The note verbale from Bangladesh’s foreign ministry expressed “deep concern” at the Indian ban as it “directly impacts the supply of essential food items in the Bangladesh market.”

It noted that at a meeting of the commerce secretaries of the two sides during January 15-16: “Bangladesh side requested the Indian side to consider not imposing export restriction on essential food items required by Bangladesh, and in case of any event necessitating such a restriction, it was requested that Bangladesh side be informed ahead of time.”

The latest ban, the note verbale said: “Undermines the discussions that took place in 2019 and 2020 between the two friendly countries on the matter and understanding shared.”

The side of Bangladesh is concerned as the sudden ban caused public panic buying and hoarding by unscrupulous traders who bought available stocks of onions and then artificially drove up prices, the people said.

Bangladesh is largely able to meet its annual requirement of around 2.5 million tons of domestically grown onions, but almost 90 percent of the shortfall is due to imports from India.

As it did last year, Bangladesh may turn to Turkey and Egypt to make up for the deficit in supplies.