In view of the Pahalgam terror attack, Pakistan also closed its ports for Indian flag ships just hours after India took new punitive steps against Pakistan.
Earlier, India postponed all postal services with Pakistan on Saturday as a new punitive step against Islamabad and banned the entry of Pakistani flag ships at Indian ports. India also banned the import of goods coming or passing by Pakistan and the entry of Pakistani ships into its ports on Saturday.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi said that the country is committed to taking “firm and decisive” action against terrorists and their supporters.
According to the news of the Pakistani newspaper ‘Dawn’, after India took punitive steps, Pakistan ordered late on Saturday that no Indian flag vessel would be allowed to go to any Pakistani port and Pakistani ships would not be allowed to stay at any Indian port.
According to the newspaper, “In view of the recent developments related to the neighboring country, Pakistan implements the following steps with immediate effect keeping in mind the maritime sovereignty, economic interest and national security: Indian flag bearer ships will not be allowed to visit any Pakistani port, no vessel with Pakistani flag will go to any Indian port (and in this case in this case will be decided on any exemption or system.
‘Dawn’ cited an order issued late Saturday by the port of the Ministry of Marine Affairs Ministry and the Shiphani branch in this news.
After the terrorist attack on April 22 in Pahalgam, the relationship between the two neighboring countries has become more tense. 26 people were killed in this attack, most of which were tourists.
India closed the exchange of post and parcels of all categories with neighboring countries through air and ground routes amid growing tension with Pakistan over the Pahalgam terror attack.
At the same time, according to the Directorate General of Shipping (DGS), in addition to banning the entry of Pakistani ships into Indian ports, India has also stopped Indian ships from visiting Pakistani ports.
Officials said the restrictions have been implemented with immediate effect.
According to the government’s order, India has banned direct or indirect imports of all goods from Pakistan in the interest of national security and public policy with immediate effect.
After the Pulwama terror attack, 200 percent import duty was imposed on Pakistani goods in 2019, which effectively prohibited direct imports, but the recent decision has also banned the entry of Pakistani goods through third countries.
Earlier, India had decided to postpone the Indus Water Treaty, cancel the visa of Pakistani citizens and close the Attari Integrated Investigation Outpost with immediate effect. India had also decided to reduce diplomatic relations.
Meanwhile, Pakistan on Saturday announced that it has successfully tested the ‘Abdali weapon system’ capable of hitting the surface from the surface to a distance of 450 km.
The Pakistani Army said in a statement, “The aim of this launch was to ensure the campaign readiness of the soldiers and to examine the major technical parameters.”
In New Delhi, officials who are aware of this development said that India considers the trial of ballistic missile by Pakistan as “the action of provocative”.
Meanwhile, a Sri Lankan police spokesperson said that the Sri Lankan police on Saturday searched an aircraft coming from Chennai to Colombo as it was reported that the Pahalgam could board a suspected plane involved in the terrorist attack.
A statement by ‘Sri Lankan Airlines’ said that the aircraft was thoroughly examined and later approved for further operations.
