ISLAMABAD: The Ministry of Commerce (MoC) has clarified that there is no restriction on the shipment of letters, documents, business documents, documents of ministries, diplomatic mission, banks and greeting cards etc. to India.
Bilateral trade with India was suspended on August 9, 2019, after India abrogated the special status of occupied Kashmir. According to officials of the ministry, there were some confusions regarding non-commercial trade with India, like exchange of letters and documents, following the imposition of a complete ban on bilateral trade.
Some courier service providers in the country had approached the ministry asking whether the ban on trade is applicable on the shipment of non-commercial trade. The ministry has clarified that the courier services and shipment of documents would not be affected by the ban on bilateral trade.
Earlier, in reaction to India’s decision to revoke Article 370 of its constitution that granted occupied Kashmir a special status, Pakistan had downgraded diplomatic relations with India and had suspended bilateral trade with it. The federal cabinet, headed by Prime Minister Imran Khan, had endorsed the decisions taken by the National Security Committee and the joint session of parliament, which included suspension of trade ties with India.
Later, the commerce ministry had exempted the pharmaceutical industry from the ban on bilateral trade with India, as Pakistan’s drug manufacturers had shown concerns that they would soon be unable to supply life-saving medicines due to the industry’s dependence on India.
Around 50pc of medicines made in Pakistan use raw materials from India and the country imports around 150 medicines and vaccines from India each year.
