India, April 9 -- India has ended a nearly five-year-old arrangement for trans-shipment of Bangladeshi export cargo to third countries via Indian airports and ports against the backdrop of increasingly strained relations between the two countries.

The external affairs ministry on Wednesday cited congestion at Indian airports and ports as the reason for the move, which came days after Bangladesh interim government chief Muhammad Yunus' controversial remarks leveraging the isolation of India's landlocked northeastern states while seeking Chinese investments.

A circular from India's customs department issued on April 8 rescinded the arrangement of June 2020 allowing the trans-shipment of export cargo from Bangladesh to third countries via ...