India said it has banned the import of goods originating from or transiting via Pakistan as diplomatic tensions between the two nuclear-armed nations flared in the wake of a deadly attack on tourists in occupied Kashmir.
The April 22 attack in 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 and India’s premier granting “operational freedom” to the military. As Pakistan, in the early hours of April 30, said it expected an Indian incursion within 24–36 hours, diplomatic channels have been engaged to prevent conflict.
India’s Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT), in a notification said the ban will take effect immediately.
“This restriction is imposed in the interest of national security and public policy,” it said.
In response to India’s slew of aggressive measures against the country in the wake of the Pahalgam attack, Pakistan announced retaliatory measures that have included halting all border trade, closing its airspace to Indian carriers and expelling Indian diplomats.
However, Pakistan on May 1 allowed 150 stranded Afghan trucks carrying goods for India to cross the Wagah Border, easing a weeks-long bottleneck, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement.
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.
