Jammu & Kashmir live updates: GOI remove all provisions of Article 370

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Trade Ban: Pakistan’s textile, pharma sectors to take a hit, $1 billion Indian inputs among casualties

India is not expected to face any negative impact from the suspension of trade as its imports from Pakistan are valued at less than a fourth of its total exports to the country.

Written by Prabha Raghavan | New Delhi | Published: August 9, 2019 4:52:55 am
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By comparison, India imports products valued at less than a fourth of its total exports to Pakistan, and is not expected to face a negative impact from the move, which was announced in response to the government’s decision earlier this week to end special status for Jammu & Kashmir.


Pakistan’s decision to suspend bilateral trade with India may hit its textiles and pharmaceuticals industries, which rely on imports of raw materials worth over $450 million each from India.

By comparison, India imports products valued at less than a fourth of its total exports to Pakistan, and is not expected to face a negative impact from the move, which was announced in response to the government’s decision earlier this week to end special status for Jammu & Kashmir.

In 2018-19, Pakistan imported $550.33 million worth of cotton and $457.75 million worth of organic chemicals from India, according to Commerce Ministry data. Together, the two products make up around half of the country’s total imports from India, which were around $2.07 billion during that financial year.

Provisional data for April-June 2019 shows that India has so far exported a total of $452.51 million worth of goods to Pakistan, with $127.87 of this being organic chemicals and $48.33 million, cotton. Pakistan ranks behind countries like Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Nepal in India’s trade list with South Asian countries, according the Ministry. This is not only due to strained diplomatic relations between the two countries, but also an inability of Pakistan to cater to India’s import needs and its unwillingness to give India Most-Favoured Nation (MFN) status, according to trade experts.

India’s major imports from Pakistan, including mineral fuels and edible fruit and nuts, were about $131.29 million and $103.27 million. Its total imports from the region in 2018-19 were valued at $494.87 million, according to the Ministry. “Cotton and organic chemicals are two of the largest items India exports to Pakistan, and both of these are actually raw materials for their industries. It is a precarious situation for them (Pakistan), because it affects their textiles and pharmaceuticals industries,” Indian Council for Research on International Economic Relations professor Nisha Taneja, an expert on India-Pakistan trade relations, told The Indian Express.

“Even though the volumes of the imports were not that much, there was still a dependence,” she said. Around 82 per cent of India’s exports to Pakistan consists of raw materials and intermediates, according to her. Pakistan’s latest announcement, coupled with India’s decision earlier this year to revoke the neighbouring country’s MFN status and hike duties on its goods, are “the most drastic trade measures” taken in the souring relations between the nations to date, said Taneja. While Islamabad’s plan is more obviously aimed at showing its “dissatisfaction” with India’s moves in Jammu and Kashmir, an underlying reason for suspending trade is also to respond to the 200 per cent tariff imposed by New Delhi on Pakistani products, according to her.

Provisional data from the Commerce Ministry for India’s trade with Pakistan in April-June 2019 shows that India has so far imported only $7.13 million worth of goods from Pakistan after revoking its MFN status. Another trade expert, who requested anonymity, said Pakistan’s move is also a way for its Prime Minister to assuage his voter base by publicly expressing opposition to the development.

Diplomatic relations between India and Pakistan have always been strained, but trade between the two countries has mostly been positive and cooperative in terms of catering to instances of shortages in goods, according to experts. India may still have avenues to continue trade with Pakistan, as there are “informal channels” that are “well cemented and flourishing”, said Taneja. “It would be easy for formal trade to shift to informal channels, though it will mean higher transport costs,” she said.

Trade Ban: Pakistan’s textile, pharma sectors to take a hit, $1 billion Indian inputs among casualties
 
J&K's Article 370 Scrapped: Pakistan's Market Crashes To Record Low Days After It Cut Trade Ties With India

Written By Navashree Nandini | Mumbai | Published : August 09, 2019 09:53 IST
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Hack:
  • Pakistan's economy is in dire condition
  • Pakistan has expelled Indian envoy, broke diplomatic ties
  • India scrapped Article 370 that provided special status to Jammu and Kashmir and bifurcated the state into two Union Territories

Even as Imran Khan and his government is taking numerous actions against India after the scrapping of Article 370, claiming that it is illegal to decide on a conflicted area, economy in Pakistan continues to deteriorate. On Thursday, the stock market in Pakistan was a record low - as it went down by 800 points. Incidentally, Pakistan cut off trade ties following J&K integration. It is being said that ever since India integrated with J&K by revoking Article 370, its market has gone down.

India scrapped Article 370:

The Narendra Modi government on August 5 revoked Article 370 which gave special status to Jammu and Kashmir. Both the upper house and the lower house of the Parliament approved the resolution abrogating Article 370 for J&K and a bill to bifurcate the state into two union territories, Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh, with Home Minister Amit Shah saying the controversial provisions were responsible for poverty and lack of development in the state. Ministry of External Affairs also briefed the envoys of the P5 nations -- the US, the UK, China, France and Russia -- about Indian government's decision to scrap Article 370 and bifurcate the state into two union territories.

Pakistan's reaction after Article 370's abrogation:

After normalcy has been restored in Kashmir, a panicky and isolated Pakistan has expelled Indian envoy Ajay Bisaria from the country. As per sources, Pakistan has also decided to not send its High Commissioner-designate who was supposed to take charge in August. In a series of other moves by the neighbouring country, it has decided to downgrade ties with India. It has also decided to suspend bilateral trade with India and review all bilateral arrangements with India. Pakistan has also said that it will take India's internal matter of Kashmir to United Nations, including the Security Council. It has also decided to observe 14 August, its Independence Day in solidarity with 'Kashmiris'. and declared August 15, India's Independence as 'Black Day'. It has on Thursday decided to stop Samjhauta Express - a train service between India's Attari and Pakistan's Lahore.

J&K's Article 370 scrapped: Pakistan's market crashes to record low days after it cut trade ties with India - Republic World