NEW DELHI: 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 Indian Illegally Occupied Kashmir (IIOJK) region.
India’s Directorate General of Foreign Trade 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.
A provision in this regard has been added in Foreign Trade Policy (FTP) 2023 “to prohibit direct or indirect import or transit of all goods originating in or exported from Pakistan with immediate effect until further orders”, it said in the notification dated May 2, reported Indian media.
Pakistan has also blocked imports from India.
Suspected militants killed at least 26 tourists in last week’s attack on a mountain destination in the Pahalgam area of the Kashmir valley.
The Muslim-majority Himalayan region has been the site of multiple wars, insurgency and diplomatic standoffs.
India has accused Pakistan of involvement in the attack, which Islamabad denies. Pakistan said it has “credible intelligence” that India intends to launch military action.
Following the attack, India threatened to suspend the Indus Waters Treaty in a bitter response to Pakistan.
Pakistan also announced retaliatory measures that have included halting all border trade, closing its airspace to Indian carriers and expelling Indian diplomats.
It has also warned that any attempt to prevent the flow of river water promised under a decades-old treaty between the two nations would be considered an act of war.
Trade between the two nations has dwindled over the last few years.
The attack has led towards both Pakistan and India catching up in the rising tensions at the Line of Control (LoC).
Both Indian and Pakistani forces have exchanged fire along the LOC separating the two countries as the UN calls for “maximum restraint” amid warnings of a wider military escalation.
Additionally, the tensions are not limited to the border as Kashmiris across India are facing rising violence following last week’s deadly attack.
Notably, following the recent attack, Kashmiris held candlelight vigils and protest marches, with a complete shutdown observed a day after the killings and newspapers printing black front pages.
Muslims also continue to face mob violence across many regions in India as racist accusations linking them with the attack surface in the popular narrative.
Fears of a broader war between the two nuclear countries have also been surfacing if the tensions are not diffused quickly.
