After Suspending Bilateral Trade Last Month, Pakistan To Restart Import Of Life-Saving Medicines From India

Amid ongoing tensions between India and Pakistan over the Kashmir issue, Islamabad on Monday (2 September) approved importing of life-saving drugs from India to provide relief to the patients in the Islamic nation.

The development comes even as Pakistan had earlier suspended bilateral trade with India last month after New Delhi revoked the special status given to Jammu and Kashmir.

According to reports, Pakistan’s commerce ministry issued a notification allowing import of life-saving drugs from India. Furthermore, the export of medicines to India was also allowed. The permissions were granted by the ministry on Monday (1 September), which also issued a statutory regulatory order in this regard.

Earlier last month, Employers’ Federation of Pakistan (EFP) had expressed fear that suspending bilateral trade with India could result in vanishing of the Indian drugs from the market and requested the Pakistani government to relax the rules until some alternative source for the import could be arranged.

Pakistani Pharmaceutical companies also expressed fear that banning import of Indian medicines could lead to a severe crisis of life-saving drugs in Pakistan.