Pakistan allows import of life-saving drugs from India

The Pakistan government has allowed the import of life-saving drugs from India despite escalating tensions between the two countries over the Kashmir issue, according to a media report on Tuesday.

Pakistan downgraded its diplomatic relations and formally suspended its trade relations with India last month after New Delhi revoked the special status of Jammu and Kashmir and bifurcated it into two union territories.

India has maintained that Jammu and Kashmir was an integral part of India and the issue was strictly internal to the country. Pakistan's ministry of commerce, through a statutory regulatory order, gave the permission to import and export medicines from India, Geo TV reported.

Trade relations between the two neighbours were already strained following the Pulwama terror attack as India imposed 200 per cent customs duty on all goods imported from Pakistan. Pakistan has imported over USD 36 million worth of anti-rabies and anti-venom vaccines from India over the last 16 months.

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