Operation Sindoor: India to keep hawk eye on Gulf imports to spot Pakistan goods

NEW DELHI: India is scrutinising imports from the UAE and Iran as well as other Gulf countries besides certain transshipment hubs to ensure that no goods from Pakistan enter the country indirectly through these routes.

A stricter check of labels of imported goods and the origin criteria of items coming from these countries is being conducted as India had earlier flagged concerns with the UAE that dates from Pakistan were being routed into the country, officials said. This amounted to misuse of the India-UAE Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement, they added.

New Delhi imposed a complete ban on goods from Pakistan, including those routed through third countries, in the wake of the April 22 terrorist attack in Pahalgam in which 26 people were killed. Pakistan has suspended all trade ties with India, including through third countries.

“Imports from transshipment hubs like the UAE and some countries are being scrutinised for Pakistani goods,” said one of the officials cited. Rules of origin are the criteria that determine the national source of a product and thereby duty concessions.

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India’s goods exports to the UAE in FY25 stood at $36.63 billion and imports from that country amounted to $63.42 billion. India imported dates worth $270.4 million in the April-February period of FY25. Of this, dates worth $123.82 million came from the UAE. India imported fresh and dried dates worth $277.25 million in all of FY24.

Pakistan’s exports to the UAE reportedly increased 28% to $1.2 billion between July 2024 and February 2025 from the year before.

Value Addition Risks
On May 2, the government prohibited the direct or indirect import or transit of all goods originating in or exported from Pakistan.

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“This restriction is imposed in the interest of national security and public policy,” the commerce and industry ministry had said in a notification. “Any exception to this prohibition shall require prior approval of the government of India.”


It’s easier to scrutinise imports produced entirely in a certain country but things get complicated when there’s value addition, said the official cited. Authorities need to run more elaborate checks in such cases. “Also, goods under transit are under scrutiny. India didn’t clarify in the notification that goods in transit will be exempt from scrutiny,” the official said.

India’s goods imports from Pakistan amounted to $2.88 million in the April-February period of FY25 with plants and seeds, dates, figs and malt extracts topping the list.

Bilateral trade had already been declining after India imposed a 200% duty on Pakistani goods in 2019, following the Pulwama terrorist attack.

While India had granted most favoured nation status to Pakistan in 1996, the neighbouring country had not reciprocated.