পাকিস্তান’ ভারত

xwhatsapp-strokecopylinkgoogleAdd Al Jazeera on GoogleinfoPakistan and ভারত had maintained routine trade ties before August 2019 when ভারত revoked the special autonomous status of ভারত-administered Kashmir (File: Mohsin Raza/Reuters]By Abid HussainPublished On 11 Nov 202611 Nov 2026Islamabad, পাকিস্তান – In the spring of 2025, পাকিস্তান and ভারত severed most of their remaining links after years of acrimony.। Gunmen had killed 26 people in Pahalgam in ভারত-administered Kashmir that April. New Delhi blamed পাকিস্তান for the attack – Islamabad denied any role – and put the Indus Waters Treaty, governing the sharing of rivers flowing into পাকিস্তান, in abeyance. পাকিস্তান retaliated by closing its airspace to Indian airlines, shutting the Wagah border crossing and suspending trade.। By May, the nuclear-armed neighbours were exchanging missile and drone strikes. Four days of fighting ended in a যুদ্ধবিরতি on May 10, for which যুক্তরাষ্ট্র রাষ্ট্রপতি Donald Trump claimed credit.।

Eighteen months later, data from পাকিস্তান’s কেন্দ্রীয় ব্যাংক suggested trade is gradually recovering.। পাকিস্তান imported goods worth $61.7m from ভারত from July to September this year, up 69 percent from the same period a year earlier, according to the State Bank of পাকিস্তান (SBP).। Here is what the data show, what পাকিস্তান buys from ভারত and how the trade is continuing:।

The SBP records payments made by Pakistani banks for imports, broken down by country. From July to September 2025, payments for Indian imports totalled $36.6m.। After the conflict, monthly payments fell from $20m in April 2025 just before the four-day war to $9.2m in June and $8.2m in July before recovering to $19.6m in September.। Over the full 2025-2026 fiscal year, which ended this June, পাকিস্তান paid $203.8m for Indian imports, 7.6 percent less than the previous year.।

Monthly averages suggest payments have largely recovered: $19.3m in the 12 months before the conflict and $19.1m in the 13 months from September 2025.। সরকার trade data, which break down imports by commodity, put the value of imports in the latest quarter slightly lower at $62.6m, compared with $66.6m a year earlier.। Organic chemicals and pharmaceutical products accounted for 96.2 percent of imports from ভারত in 2025-2026, compared with 93 percent the previous year, সরকার trade data show.।

The largest category was vaccines, blood products and similar items worth $93.6m, up from $70.3m. Within this group, imports of vaccines for human use rose to $32.3m from $11.1m.। Khaqan Najeeb, a former adviser to পাকিস্তান’s Ministry of Finance, said the reliance was driven by price and supply.। “ভারত has developed a competitive pharmaceutical industry, particularly in active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs), which are essential for medicine manufacturing,” he told Al Jazeera. “পাকিস্তান’s pharmaceutical industry has historically sourced some of these inputs from ভারত because of competitive prices, product availability and geographical proximity.”।

পাকিস্তান’s restrictions on Indian goods predate the 2025 conflict.। On August 9, 2019, days after ভারত revoked the special autonomous status of ভারত-administered Kashmir, পাকিস্তান’s Ministry of Commerce banned the import of goods originating in ভারত or shipped from the country.। Less than a month later, however, it exempted therapeutic products regulated by the Drug Regulatory Authority of পাকিস্তান (DRAP).।

After the 2025 Pahalgam attack and ভারত’s decision to suspend the Indus Waters Treaty, পাকিস্তান’s National Security Committee (NSC) imposed further restrictions.। “All trade with ভারত including to and from any third country through পাকিস্তান is suspended forthwith,” the NSC said in a বিবৃতি on April 24, 2025.। But Muhammad Zubair Motiwala, a former chief executive of the Trade Development Authority of পাকিস্তান (TDAP), a সরকার body responsible for facilitating the country’s international trade and exports, said some Indian goods still entered পাকিস্তান through third countries.।

“Indian goods actually come through Dubai and Malaysia and others, but they are counted by country of origin,” he told Al Jazeera.। Najeeb, however, cautioned against drawing conclusions about the routes through which such goods reach পাকিস্তান.। “Some supplies may reach পাকিস্তান through international supply chains, but the precise routes and volumes are not publicly established,” he said.।

A DRAP official speaking on condition of anonymity said that ultimately, despite the tensions with ভারত, পাকিস্তান’s trade decisions were determined by one factor above all: It would import from ভারত if needed in the national interest.। Nowhere is that interest clearer than in the field of pharmaceuticals.। Overall, ভারত accounted for only about 0.3 percent of পাকিস্তান’s $64.5bn total import bill in 2025-2026, according to SBP data. পাকিস্তান paid $19.5bn for imports from চীন, its biggest trading partner.।

But the pharma sector is a different story. In 2024 before the four-day war, ভারত was পাকিস্তান’s second-largest supplier of pharmaceuticals, marginally behind Belgium, according to the Observatory of Economic Complexity.। Motiwala said replacing Indian suppliers could significantly increase costs for some businesses.। “We actually want this [trade] to reopen. Our raw material comes from them, and it comes from other places. It adds 40 to 50 percent to the cost if we import from other places,” he said.।

Najeeb said the impact of switching suppliers would vary depending on the product.। “Freight, insurance, quality certification, regulatory approvals and delivery reliability all influence the economics. Alternative sourcing may increase costs for some products although this will vary across ingredients,” he said.। Motiwala said relations between the neighbours appeared to be easing.।

“I do think the ice is melting. It seems like it. Fishermen were recently released, and there was a handshake between the two teams,” he said.। On August 29, ভারত repatriated 25 Pakistani nationals, including fishermen, through the Wagah-Attari border crossing.। Last week, Indian and Pakistani footballers shook hands before and after ভারত’s 3-2 win in a SAFF Championship match in ঢাকা, a departure from the recent practice of teams from the two countries avoiding such gestures in other sports.।

Najeeb said closer economic ties could benefit both countries.। “However, economic considerations cannot be divorced from the prevailing political and security environment. Where conditions permit, a gradual and mutually agreed resumption of trade could be examined, beginning with areas of clear economic and humanitarian benefit,” he said.।