Pakistan on Sunday banned the import of Indian-origin goods transiting through Pakistan by land, sea and air and prohibited the transit of goods exported to India by third countries, a notification from the commerce ministry said.
An attack on April 22 in occupied Kashmir’s Pahalgam killed 26 people, mostly tourists, in one of the deadliest assaults since 2000. India has implied cross-border links without evidence, while Pakistan has rejected the claim and called for a neutral probe.
Tensions have since spiked, with Pakistan reinforcing its forces as it expected an incursion and India’s premier granting “operational freedom” to his military. As temperatures remain high, both nations have imposed tit-for-tat measures on each other in a tug-of-war started by India.
The notification, which has been seen by Dawn.com, stated that these bans would not be applicable to goods for which a bill of lading or letter of credit had already been issued.
The ministry banned, “the import of Indian origin goods by third countries via sea, land and air; transiting through Pakistan; goods imported from India by third countries via sea, land and air, transiting through Pakistan; [and] the exports of third countries, to India via sea, land and air, transiting through Pakistan”.
The notification stated that the federal government issued the orders “in the interest of national security and in public interest”.
Late on Saturday night, Pakistan banned the use of its ports by Indian flag carriers in a tit-for-tat response to India announcing that Pakistani-flagged ships would not be allowed to visit any of its ports, and Indian flagged-ships would not visit any ports in Pakistan.
An order issued by the Ministry of Maritime Affairs’ Ports and Shipping Wing said: “In view of the recent development of maritime situation with neighbouring country, Pakistan in order to safeguard maritime sovereignty, economic interest and national security enforces following measures with immediate effect: Indian flag carriers shall not be allowed to visit any Pakistani port, Pakistani flag carriers shall not visit any Indian port [and] any exemption or dispensation shall be examined and decided on case to case basis.”
Trade between the two nations has dwindled over the last few years.
In August 2019, Pakistan had already formally downgraded its trade relations with India to the level of Israel, with which Islamabad has no trade ties at all, in reaction to New Delhi’s decision to revoke Article 370 of its constitution that granted occupied Kashmir a special status.
