Dhaka, Dec. 27 -- Bangladesh interim government has started importing rice from India. The first consignment of 27,000 tonnes of rice has arrived in Bangladesh through Chittagong port.

The consignment is part of an agreement to buy 200,000 tonnes of rice from India, a food official of Bangladesh said on Friday.

In a telephonic conversation, the official told ANI, "There is no shortage of rice in Bangladesh at this moment. However, due to recent severe floods, the government has decided to import rice in order to avoid the crisis in the future."

"Bangladesh interim government will import another 100,000 tonnes of rice from India through tender, in addition to 200,000 tonnes of parboiled rice", he added.

"On top of the tenders, we have ...