ISLAMABAD – Despite strained relations and a formal halt to trade, Pakistan has imported goods worth $1.62 billion from India over the past five years, according to a recent disclosure by officials from the commerce ministry.
The details, revealed to the Standing Committee for Trade, highlighted that significant imports from India have continued, even as official trade between the two nations remains suspended. Documents show that Pakistan imported goods worth $380 million in the 2019-20 financial year. This was followed by imports totaling $327 million in FY 2020-21, $352 million in FY 2021-22, $276 million in FY 2022-23, and $278 million in FY 2023-24.
Sources within the commerce ministry indicated that much of these imports comprised pharmaceutical raw materials essential for manufacturing life-saving drugs. However, Pakistan has not exported any goods to India in the last four years.
Trade between the two countries was suspended in 2019 after relations soured, particularly following India’s controversial decision to revoke the special legislative status of Jammu and Kashmir, a region with a majority Muslim population. Since then, Pakistan has faced significant economic repercussions.
In the years since, Islamabad has insisted that dialogue with New Delhi is contingent on the restoration of Kashmir’s special status. However, the Indian government has consistently refused to engage on the issue, considering it an internal matter that has already been resolved.
