Pakistani goods worth $500 million reportedly entering India via intermediary countries, says official

Trade items including dry fruits and chemicals worth around $500 million are reportedly entering India via intermediary nations such as the UAE, Singapore, Indonesia and Sri Lanka, according to an official, quoted by news agency PTI.
The official indicated that a considerable portion of the Pakistani exports previously sent directly to India are now being channelled through alternative countries.
The UAE reportedly serves as a repackaging and relabelling point for Pakistani fruits, dry dates, leather, and textiles before their dispatch to India, whilst chemicals are reportedly sent via Singapore.
Indonesian territory is utilised for transiting Pakistani cement, soda ash, and textile raw materials. The official claimed that Pakistani dried fruits, salt, and leather products are being transported to India through Sri Lanka.
Given the likelihood of $500 million worth of exports reaching India through alternative routes, the official emphasised the necessity to implement a complete prohibition on Pakistani exports to India, whether direct or indirect, and to monitor and identify goods that might enter through origin manipulation. “This comprehensive ban imposed by India including a ban on indirect exports would enable the customs authorities to prevent Pakistan exports from entering India through circumvention,” the official added.
This report comes as the central government imposed a ban on trade with Pakistan amid escalating tension after the Pahalgam terrorist attack on April 22, that resulted in 26 fatalities. “India’s already minuscule imports from Pakistan–barely $ 0.5 million a year–will now drop to zero. No one in India will miss anything except perhaps Himalayan pink salt (Sendha Namak), extracted from salt deposits of Pakistan,” said Ajay Srivastava, Founder of the Global Trade Research Initiative (GTRI), in a recent statement.
This also comes against the backdrop of long-standing trade restrictions. Following the Pulwama attack in 2019, India had imposed 200 per cent tariffs on Pakistani goods. As a result, direct trade between April 2024 and January 2025 dwindled to just $ 0.42 million, restricted mostly to niche items like figs ($ 78,000), basil and rosemary herbs ($ 18,856), and Himalayan pink salt.
The Indian High Commission in Islamabad’s official records indicate that India procured various items from Pakistan, including copper, edible fruits and nuts, cotton, salt, sulphur, organic chemicals, mineral fuels, plastics, wool, glassware and raw hides.
Conversely, India’s exports to Pakistan encompassed diverse products, comprising cotton, organic chemicals, food products, animal fodder, edible vegetables, plastic articles, man-made filament, coffee, tea, spices, dyes, oil seeds, dairy products and pharmaceutical items.
Read more: India’s imports from Pakistan set to log zero from $0.5 million after complete ban, says GTRI