Pakistan allows trade of life saving drugs with India

A month after Pakistan suspended bilateral trade with India, it has now allowed the import of life-saving medicines from India in order to provide relief to its patients who were affected due to Pakistan's drug industry being severely hit.

According to reports, the export of medicines to India has also been allowed. The permissions were granted by the Pakistan Ministry of Commerce on Monday, which also issued a statutory regulatory order in this regard, Geo News reported.

After India revoked Article 370 of its Constitution which gave special status to Jammu and Kashmir on August 5, Pakistan ended all trade relations with India.

In its reaction to the political developments in Jammu and Kashmir, Pakistan had also expelled the Indian Ambassador from Islamabad.

There was a campaign to boycott Indian goods in Pakistan. Train and bus services between the two countries were stopped. Even Indian films and advertisements featuring Indian artists were banned.

Pakistan wanted to harm India on the trade front but as the month passed, Pakistan began to understand the impact of its decision.

The Pakistan drug industry is currently in a dire condition. When Pakistan ended trade relations with India, traders there were forced to stop importing medicines from India. Within a few days, there was a severe shortage of life-saving medicines in Pakistani hospital. Patients started suffering vastly in the absence of medicines.

According to news agency PTI, till July 2019, Pakistan had ordered medicines worth Rs 1.36 billion from Indian pharmaceutical companies.

(With inputs from IANS)