India Halts All Imports from Pakistan Amid Escalating Tensions

In a firm action after the Pahalgam terror attack that was so atrocious, India has gone ahead to ban all imports, direct and indirect, from Pakistan. It is one of the nation's reactions to growing tensions with its neighbor.

The Commerce Ministry had issued a notification to the effect, "Direct or indirect import or transit of all goods originating in or exported from Pakistan, whether or not freely importable or otherwise allowed, will be prohibited with immediate effect, until further orders."

The notification also explained, "This prohibition is in the interest of national security and public policy. Any exception to this prohibition shall be subject to prior approval of the Government of India."

This fresh directive, put in the 2023 Foreign Trade Policy (FTP), directs an outright prohibition on Pakistani products imported or exported from there. The notification released on May 2 suspends all two-way trade between the countries.

Official data indicate a steep fall in trade, with Indian exports to Pakistan falling by 56.91 percent between April 2024-Feb 2025 to $491 million. India did not import any goods from Pakistan during the same period. The major exports during FY25 to Pakistan were drug formulations, sugar, bulk drugs, residual chemicals, and auto parts.

The Attari-Wagah border trading route, the sole functional crossing between the two nations, had already been shut down in the wake of the Pahalgam attack that claimed lives.

On 22 April, at least 26 civilians, including a Nepalese traveler and a pony guide operator from the area, were killed by terrorists at Jammu and Kashmir's scenic Baisaran meadow. The attack by militants with Pakistan connections caused the two nations' relations to plummet drastically.

After the attack, Pakistan's economy suffered a mammoth blow and investor confidence experienced a massive dip. Investors lost at least four percent for the month of April, while equities fell three percent. India's robust financial markets were otherwise left hardly impaired.

Though tensions keep rising, world powers such as the United States have urged both Pakistan and India to be restrained and to make efforts at de-escalating the crisis.