NEW DELHI, Feb 17: India on Saturday raised customs duty on all products imported from Pakistan by 200%, in the wake of the suicide bomb attack in Pulwama that killed 44 Central Reserve Police Force personnel. The Jaish-e-Mohammed group has claimed responsibility for the attack.
The Indian government has accused Pakistan of having a “direct hand” in the bombing, which was claimed by Islamist militant group Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM), which is based in the country.
Indian prime minister Narendra Modi threatened to give his neighbouring country “a jaw breaking reply”.
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His finance minister Arun Jaitley subsequently announced on Twitter that India had stripped “most favoured nation” (MFN) status from Pakistan and had raised basic customs duty on Pakistani goods “with immediate effect”.
Upon withdrawal, basic customs duty on all goods exported from Pakistan to India has been raised to 200% with immediate effect," Jaitley tweeted.
Pakistan’s exports to India stood at $488.5 million (Rs 3,484 crore) in 2017-’18, PTI reported. Exports include fresh fruits, cement, petroleum products, bulk minerals and ores and finished leather.
The two main goods imported from Pakistan are fruits and cement, according to The Times of India. Prior to the new 200 per cent tariff, customs duty on various fruits ranged between 30 and 50 per cent, while the duty on cement was 7.5 per cent, the newspaper reported.
Annual bilateral trade between the two countries is thought to be around $2bn (£1.55bn).
India had withdrawn the Most Favoured Nation status on Friday after a meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Security. India has accorded the status to all members of the World Trade Organization in accordance with provisions of the Article 1 of General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade, 1994.
Jaitley had also said that the government will also take all diplomatic steps to ensure Pakistan is globally isolated.
Following the attack, the White House urged Pakistan “to end immediately the support and safe haven provided to all terrorist groups operating on its soil”.
