Pakistan on Saturday banned the use of its ports by Indian flag carriers in a tit-for-tat response as diplomatic tensions between the two nations flared in the wake of a deadly attack 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.
Earlier today, India said Pakistani-flagged ships would not be allowed to visit any of its ports, and Indian flagged-ships would not visit any ports in Pakistan.
“This order is issued to ensure safety of Indian assets, cargo and connected infrastructure, in public interest and for interest of Indian shipping,” the Directorate General of Shipping said in a statement.
Similarly, an order issued later today from 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.”
Following last week’s tit-for-tat measures, New Delhi has taken more steps against Pakistan, including closing its airspace for Pakistani planes until May 23 and blocking social media accounts of media and leaders.
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.
India bans all imports from Pakistan, suspends inbound mail
India also said it banned the import of goods originating from or transiting via Pakistan and suspended the exchange of inbound mail and parcels.
India’s Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT), in a notification, said the ban on all imports 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 moves 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 earlier this week 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 another step to cut off ties, the Indian government also announced today it was suspending the exchange of all “inbound mail and parcels” from Pakistan.
“Government of India has decided to suspend exchange of all categories of inbound mail and parcels from Pakistan through air and surface routes,” a public notice issued by its communications ministry said, according to Hindustan Times.
The notification was also shared on the official X account of India’s Communications Minister Jyotiraditya M. Scindia.
Mail exchanges between the two arch-rivals also saw a breakdown in 2019 following India’s revocation of occupied Kashmir’s special status, according to ANI News.
Pakistan suspended postal mail services in August 2019 and resumed them in November that year, ANI said, citing Pakistani media reports.
Parcel services, however, remained suspended as of Nov 19, 2019, the report added.
Attaullah Tarar’s social media account also blocked
Meanwhile, India continued its blocking spree as Information Minister Attaullah Tarar said today his social media account had also been blocked in the neighbouring country, the Associated Press of Pakistan reported.
The Indian government has already blocked access to the official YouTube channel of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, Defence Minister Khawaja Asif and the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) for users in India.
India has blocked dozens of accounts so far in the wake of the Pahalgam attack, including of high-profile Pakistani cricketers, actors, entertainment channels, news publications and journalists.
Attempts to access these profiles in India, it said, now return a message stating: “Account not available in India. This is because we complied with a legal request to restrict this content.”
LoC visit for media
Separately, the information ministry said it was facilitating a visit for media representatives, both local and international, to the Line of Control (LoC) for Saturday and Sunday “to expose India’s baseless and fabricated propaganda regarding so-called and imaginary ‘terrorist camps’ in Pakistan”.
“India has repeatedly made unfounded and baseless claims about alleged terrorist hideouts along the LoC,” the ministry said in a press release.
“During the visit, media representatives would be taken to the exact locations falsely propagated by India as terrorist camps and would be presented with factual, on-ground realities that refute these malicious allegations,” it said.
The ministry said that Pakistan reaffirmed its steadfast commitment to peace and “categorically rejected any form of terrorism or terrorist activities anywhere in the world”.
“The nation remains resolute in defending its sovereignty, and any aggression by India will be met with a swift and befitting response,” it concluded.
Additional input from APP.
