Trade through Hili port suspended over dispute
Trading through Hili land port got suspended from Monday as an ongoing internal dispute between two groups of Indian clearing and forwarding agents over getting priority in sending goods to Bangladesh took a turn for the worse.
Things started when Indian traders stopped sending granite to Bangladesh after the beginning of the dispute on September 23.
Bangladeshi traders have requested their Indian peers several times through letters to find a quick solution, said Harun Ur Rashid, president of the importers' and exporters' group at Hili port.
On Sunday, the clearing and forwarding agents of Hili also warned the Indian traders that they would stop importing goods from India if it does not start sending granite to Bangladesh soon, he said.
Senior exporters and local administration of Balurghat under India's West Bengal sat with the groups involved in the dispute to find a solution on Monday, he said.
“But the Indian traders went for an indefinite suspension of trading with Bangladesh through Hili,” Rashid told The Daily Star over phone.
However, no trading took place through Hili yesterday as it was a holiday in India for Gandhi Jayanti, the birthday of India's Father of the Nation Mahatma Gandhi.
There was no disruption in immigration services yesterday, said Abdus Sabur, in charge of Hili immigration post.
Rice, granite and onion are mainly imported from India through Hili.
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