India Slaps Pakistani Goods With 200% Import Duty After Kashmir Terror Attack - Minister

NEW DELHI (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 17th February, 2019) India has imposed a 200-percent customs duty on goods imported from Pakistan due to withdrawal of the most favored nation status from the country after deadly terror attack in the state of Jammu and Kashmir earlier in the week, Indian Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said on Saturday.

On Friday, local media reported that the Indian authorities had decided to withdraw the most favored nation (MFN) status from Pakistan during an emergency government meeting in connection with the terrorist attack in the state of Jammu and Kashmir.

"India has withdrawn MFN status to Pakistan after the Pulwama incident. Upon withdrawal, basic customs duty on all goods exported from Pakistan to India has been raised to 200% with immediate effect," Jaitley wrote on Twitter.

The blast of an improvised explosive device in Pulwama district in the Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir in India killed 45 people.

The Jaish-e-Mohammed terrorist group has claimed responsibility for the attack. The group, which used to perpetrate attacks in the Jammu and Kashmir state, is affiliated with Taliban movement and al-Qaeda terrorist organization (banned in Russia) and aims to separate Kashmir from India and to merge it into neighboring Pakistan. Pakistani Foreign Ministry strongly protested attempts to link Islamabad to the terrorist attack without any investigation.

Jammu and Kashmir is a region that has been disputed by India and Pakistan since 1947 when both countries gained independence from the British Empire. The two countries have gone through three wars over the region, but the conflict has not been resolved. The unstable situation in the region has led to the emergence of extremist groups.