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Pakistan has offered Bangladesh the use of its Karachi port. This proposal was put forward in the 9th meeting of Pakistan-Bangladesh Joint Economic Commission (JEC) between the two countries held in Dhaka on Monday. This meeting took place after about 20 years.
Pakistan says that the use of Karachi Port can give Bangladesh easy access to the markets of China, Gulf countries and Central Asia.
The Government of India had issued a circular on April 8, 2025, ending the facility of trans-shipment of goods for third country exports to Bangladesh.
Under this decision, Bangladeshi goods could no longer pass through India’s Land Customs Stations (LCS) from any port or airport in India to a third country.
Pakistan and Bangladesh also agreed on issues such as increasing direct air and sea connectivity, logistics cooperation, and standardization of halal products.
Pakistan can buy jute from Bangladesh
In the meeting, Pakistan showed keen interest in importing jute from Bangladesh. At present India is the largest jute buyer of Bangladesh. India had imported jute worth about $95 million in 2023. But in August, India had banned the arrival of Bangladeshi jute products from the ports.
India had said that Indian industry was suffering losses due to Bangladesh’s subsidies. After this, in July 2025, Bangladesh’s jute export earnings dropped from $12.9 million to just $3.4 million.
In response, Bangladesh stopped importing yarn from India and stopped imports from many land ports like Benapole, Bhomra, Sonamasjid, Bangalbandha, Burimari.
In the meeting, Pakistan proposed that Bangladesh could use Karachi port to export its jute products.
Training also offered to Bangladeshi businessmen
According to reports, Pakistan has also announced to increase 500 scholarships and technical training seats for Bangladeshi businessmen. Both the countries have decided to form a joint working group to work further on these proposals.
Many experts are linking this proposal to the changing regional equations in South Asia. Some trade differences between India and Bangladesh have come to the fore in recent months. In such a situation, this step of Pakistan is being seen as an attempt to create a new economic and diplomatic opportunity for itself.
However, experts say that Bangladesh’s sea route to Karachi Port is long and there will be cost and logistics challenges in making this proposal practical.
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