The interim government is taking a number of steps that will virtually diminish the huge negative economic effect of India’s abrupt transshipment facility withdrawal, Commerce Adviser Sk Bashir Uddin told reporters on Wednesday.

Following India’s withdrawal of the transshipment facility, Bangladesh could see a Tk2,000 crore rise in costs for exporting goods to Nepal, Bhutan and Myanmar through Indian land routes, the adviser said.

However, the government is taking the right steps to neutralise the negative impact through air freight, and other means, he noted.

He claimed he spent the entire day on Pahela Baishakh at the Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport brainstorming ideas to find a route to substitute Indian overland routes. His new role as the civil aviation affairs adviser will further help him execute his plans for ending Indian land reliance, he said.