On the 3rd of April, the Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan decided not to trade with India.
The decision was taken during a meeting held on the 2nd of April in Islamabad. Imran Khan chaired the meeting and said, until India revokes Article 370, which took away the special status given to Jammu and Kashmir, Pakistan would not go ahead with any trade. The meeting was attended by the Cabinet ministers of Pakistan and senior officials of the Pakistan Government.
Mr. Imran Khan said, under the current circumstances, import of cotton and sugar from the neighbouring Country would be stopped. He also instructed the Ministry of Commerce and his Economic team to immediately take steps to facilitate the relevant sectors, value added, apparel and sugar, by finding alternative cheap sources of import of the needed commodities.
In regard to this, the Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) proposed various alternatives for the cotton and sugar import. After consideration by the ECC, its decisions were presented to the Cabinet for ratification and final approval. The ECC had decided on commercial grounds to recommend these imports for the Cabinet’s consideration.
The statement of the committee to stop import of sugar and cotton from India came a day after Pakistan’s Finance Minister Hammad Azhar, recommended importing cotton and sugar from India. The decision would have lifted nearly two year long ban on its import from the neighbouring country, India. However, on the 2nd of April, the Prime Minister Imran Khan decided to continue the ban.
The Pakistan-India bilateral trade relations were suspended in August 2019, after the Central Government announced to suspend Article 370, revoking the special status of Jammu and Kashmir.
