ndia shares a 2,500-mile (4,025km) border with Bangladesh, which is one of the world’s most densely populated countries – as well as one of its poorest – and suffers from chronic shortages of food, especially meat.

Its 150 million people, 88 per cent of whom are Muslim, eat beef, especially during festivals, but have to import most of it as there is only enough grazing space for 23 million cows. India has an estimated 250 million cows – many wandering city streets – but its 880 million Hindus consider them sacred, and slaughtering them is illegal in much of the country